Vice President JD Vance spoke in defense of the administration following some conflicting reports that raised doubts about the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) deportation policy.
In an exclusive interview with Vince Coglianese, host of the VINCE podcast and editorial director at the Daily Caller, Vance expressed that “nobody who has come into the United States illegally should remain in the United States.” This comment was prompted by reports from the Daily Wire regarding new DHS deportation guidelines, which the department later retracted.
There were reports indicating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had been instructed to stop all arrests of noncriminal illegal aliens and only target those with criminal charges or convictions. The backlash from this led DHS to issue a denial, stating that “no one is off the table.”
Vance acknowledged that while the guidance had indeed been introduced, it did not accurately reflect the overall deportation policy of the administration.
“I think the back and forth is, unfortunately, sometimes you have people who are leaking to reporters some internal policy documents,” Vance explained to Coglianese. “And my understanding of what happened is … if you have a DHS agent who can deport one person that day, he can choose between a violent criminal or someone who hasn’t committed a violent crime; of course, we’re prioritizing the violent criminals.”
“But that does not represent our overall deportation policy,” he emphasized. “It’s about managing our fundamentally limited resources.”
Vance elaborated on the obstacles the administration faces concerning deportations while highlighting the advancements that are being made.
“We’re looking at over 10 million illegal aliens who arrived during the last few years of the Biden administration,” Vance remarked. “And you could add another 15 or 20 million who are already here.”
“It takes considerable time to train and recruit individuals who can effectively carry out the deportations we need,” Vance noted. “But we’ve already deported, I think, over three million people in just 18 months. Again, we prioritize violent criminals, yet nobody who has entered the United States illegally should remain here. That remains our policy.”
