Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance On Thursday, Biden stood by previous comments calling Haitian migrants who entered the U.S. through a Biden-era parole program or are protected from deportation “illegal aliens” amid an ongoing debate about migration to the U.S.
At a campaign event, Vance was asked why he called Haitian immigrants who came to cities like Springfield, Ohio, “anarchists.” “Illegal Alien”“While many of them have come through parole processes for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV) or are protected from deportation through Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
“The media loves to say that Haitian immigrants — of which there are millions, well, 20,000 in Springfield, but millions across the country — they’re here legally.”
Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance spoke on the topic of Haitian migration on Thursday. (Photo: Jeff Swenson/Getty Images)
“And what they mean is that Kamala Harris used two different programs, mass parole and temporary protected status. She used two programs to wave a wand and say we’re not going to deport these people who are here,” he said. “Well, if Kamala Harris waves a wand and says these people are now here legally, I would still call them illegal aliens. An illegal action by Kamala Harris does not make any aliens legal. It doesn’t work that way.”
CHNV parole procedures expanded Department of Homeland Security in 2023 Up to 30,000 immigrants from these four countries will be allowed to enter the US every month, provided they have been vetted and have a supporter already in the US.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration last year redesignated and expanded TPS for Haiti, offering protection from deportation and work permits to millions of Haitians — even those in the country illegally.
Republicans have objected to the Biden administration’s use of parole programs, the CHNV program, and CBP One App About 1,450 migrants are allowed in through parole at ports of entry each day. They argue that Congress limited the use of parole to urgent humanitarian reasons or important public benefits on a “case-by-case” basis, and that using parole at such a high volume violates that. Republican states sued the CHNV program this year, but lost in court.
Trump makes new promise amid Haiti refugee row: ‘I will protect our cities’
“These procedures — a safe and orderly way to access the United States — have resulted in a significant reduction in the number of these individuals at our southern border,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement earlier this year. “It is a key element of our efforts to address the unprecedented levels of migration in our hemisphere, and other countries around the world look to it as a model for addressing the challenge of irregular migration they also face.”
Migrants wait in line to enter a shelter set up by authorities for migrants while waiting for an appointment through the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One Application, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on May 23, 2023. ((Photo: Christian Torres Chavez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images))
The administration says the use of parole programs promotes legal immigration and has led to a sharp decline in illegal border crossings by people of those nationalities.
“All CHNV beneficiaries are thoroughly screened by CBP prior to arrival in the United States and must meet other eligibility criteria to travel to the United States in a safe, orderly and lawful manner after purchasing their own commercial airline tickets,” Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Monday.
“Since DHS has implemented these safe, systematic, and lawful procedures, encounters of CHNV citizens among POEs have decreased by 99%,” the statement said.
But the debate has been back in the spotlight in recent days, with attention being paid to the influx of Haitian immigrants in small towns like Springfield, Ohio. Both Vance and former President Trump repeated unfounded claims that Haitians living in Springfield are eating the pets of people who live there.
As the debate continued, and many memes emerged, it drew more attention to the use of parole. The administration recently announced that more than 1.3 million migrants have been allowed in using the CBP One app. While critics have pointed out that many migrants are not here illegally because of the use of parole, Vance opposed this.
He said, “Kamala Harris saying we’re going to parole millions of aliens who have come into this country illegally, not on a case-by-case basis, is fundamentally illegal. That doesn’t make them magically legal.”
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Vance also criticized the administration’s use of TPS. The Trump administration attempted to end the use of TPS for several nationalities, including Haitians.
Vance described TPS as “a government order saying you’re no longer allowed to deport people.”
The comments show how Debate about immigration The outbreak has spread beyond the southern border, where numbers have fallen sharply in recent months after President Biden issued an executive order limiting arrivals to the U.S.
Former President Trump recently said he would “immediately end the migrant invasion of America.”
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He said, “We will stop all migrant flights, end all illegal entries, eliminate the Kamala phone app for illegal people smuggling (CBP One app), revoke deportation immunity, suspend refugee resettlement, and send Kamala’s illegal migrants back to their home countries (also known as remigration).”
Fox News’ Sophia Compton contributed to this report.
