Ohio Senator JD Vance said Wednesday that he would continue calling Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, “illegal aliens,” despite them being in the country legally.
Former President Donald Trump‘s running mate was speaking in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he once again brought up the city which has been at the center of immigration discussion this past week.
While the Republican steered clear of debunked claims of Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs, he insisted that longtime residents felt unsafe and that 20,000 were still present in the city “illegally.”
Many Haitian migrants have arrived in the U.S. under the Biden Administration’s Humanitarian Parole and Temporary Protected Status programs.
These programs allow migrants from Haiti, as well as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, to enter the U.S. legally if they have a sponsor and meet strict vetting criteria. Those who are eligible can wait within the U.S. while their longer-term immigration status is decided on.
“If Kamala Harris waves a wand, illegally, and says these people are now here legally, I’m still going to call them illegal aliens,” Vance said. “An illegal action by Kamala Harris does not make an alien legal. That is not how this works.”
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This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information.
Republican vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks with media at the airport before he departs on September 14, 2024, in Greenville, North Carolina.
AFP/Getty Images
