Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio challenged ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl on Sunday, disputing Karl’s assertion that Vice President Kamala Harris was never designated as the “border czar.”
Vance participated in several interviews aired Sunday, where he criticized Harris for not holding a press conference or interview since President Joe Biden announced the end of his reelection campaign on July 21. During a discussion with Karl, Vance defended former President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport millions of illegal immigrants and referred to Harris as the “border czar.”
“Oh, that was what the media called her, she assumed the title,” Vance said. “She had control over a lot of our border policy at a time when they were suspending deportations. The time they were suspending deportations, they stopped Donald Trump’s remain in Mexico policy, and they re-instituted catch and release. They basically threw open the gates of our country and now we have a ton of fentanyl, a ton of people suffering, and a ton of Americans.”
.@JDVance: We have a wide-open border because our border czar set open border policies.
FAKE NEWS @JonKarl: *repeats lie that Kamala isn't border czar*
VANCE: That's what the media called her. She assumed the title. She had control over a lot of our border policy at a time when… pic.twitter.com/We510RVbpM
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 11, 2024
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that the Border Patrol has encountered nearly 7.3 million illegal immigrants since the beginning of fiscal year 2021.
“The first thing you have to do is to stop the bleeding, stop the open border, get Kamala Harris out of there and actually re-implement the remain in Mexico policy, rebuild or finish Donald Trump’s border wall and you do that and you stop the bleeding,” Vance said. “No, you’re right, once you do that, and you stop Kamala Harris’ open border policies, you have to do something with the people who are already here, and I think you take a sequential approach to it. You’re going to have to deport some people. If you’re not willing to deport a lot of people you’re not willing to have a border when there are 20 million illegal aliens in our country.”
🔥JD Vance: “You've now asked me three questions about comments that I made three years ago. I wonder what Kamala Harris thinks about the fact that her policies opened the southern border…Kamala's been the nominee for three weeks and she hasn’t sat down for a real interview.” pic.twitter.com/KWPSvWvxWG
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 11, 2024
Karl questioned whether federal authorities would go “door-to-door” asking for papers, but Vance quickly responded, stating that the host was taking the wrong attitude towards the problem.
“There’s 20 million people here illegally, you start with what’s achievable. You do that, and then you go onto what’s achievable from there,” Vance continued. “If you deport a lot of violent criminals and frankly if you make it harder to hire illegal labor, I think you go a lot of the way to solving the illegal immigration problem, but look, President Trump is absolutely right, you cannot have a border unless you’re willing to deport some people. I think it’s interesting that people focus on, well, how do you deport 18 million people? Let’s start with one million. That’s where Kamala Harris has failed and then we can go from there.”
