Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, who was former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, on Monday slammed the Biden administration’s border crisis, arguing that the flood of deadly drugs pouring into the U.S. from the southern border is “orphaning an entire generation of children.”
Vance told Fox News host Sean Hannity that a Trump White House would focus on deporting immigrants, particularly “violent criminals” who have entered the country illegally, and on strengthening border security.
“Joe Biden opened the southern border. President Trump had it under control,” Vance argued. “We have to stop the influx first.”
“So what do we do with 11 million people? In fact, I think it’s more than 11 million people here right now. We need to start with the most violent people, the people with criminal records, and be prepared to deport them.”
The first-term Republican senator said illegal immigrants lower wages for American workers and authorities need to make it harder for them to find jobs in the United States.
“This is going to lead to more illegal immigration,” Vance told Hannity on his show, “and then when it becomes harder to work, a lot of people end up coming home.”
Vance also said Mexican drug cartels are fueling the U.S. drug epidemic because they can transport deadly substances like fentanyl across the border.
Vance, who was raised by his grandmother, said his mother struggled with drug addiction but has been sober for about 10 years now because when she got sober a few years ago, there wasn’t as much “poison” coming into the country as there is now.
“We are robbing Americans of a second chance to be with their loved ones and we cannot continue to do this,” he said. “We are orphaning an entire generation of children.”
“Just go to Pennsylvania, go to Michigan, go to Wisconsin. There are thousands of grandparents who are raising grandchildren they never intended to raise because of the poison that Joe Biden brought through the border. President Trump is the person to stop this. If we don’t stop it, we will lose a generation of young people.”
Vance was named Trump’s running mate on the first day of the Republican National Convention after the 45th president was formally nominated as the Republican Party’s delegate this November.
Trump has vowed to launch the largest deportation campaign in US history, targeting millions of illegal immigrants, if he retakes the Oval Office in November.
