Vance says Haitian migrants with protected status are 'illegal aliens' to be deported

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance said Wednesday that Haitian migrants with legal immigration status are “illegal aliens” who have been unlawfully protected from deportation, suggesting that would change if Trump wins the election.

Immigration is a top issue for Republicans, and one of Trump’s hallmark campaign promises is to enact the “largest-ever deportation” in American history on day one of his presidency if he’s elected.

Asked what the Trump administration would do about migrants that are already in the country legally after a speech in Raleigh Wednesday, Vance suggested that those migrants were granted protection unlawfully and attacked Vice President Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, over the current administration’s use of mass parole and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for people that arrive from specific countries.

“What is fundamentally illegal is for Kamala Harris to say we're going to grant parole, not on a case by case basis, but to millions of illegal aliens who are coming to this country,” Vance said. “That does not magically make them legal because Kamala Harris waved the amnesty wand. That makes her border policy a disgrace, and I'm still going to call people illegal aliens.”

The Biden administration recently extended the temporary legal protected status for unauthorized migrants from Haiti living in the U.S. through Feb. 3, 2026, a designation that protects against deportation but does not confer permanent legal status. While Vance speaks about Haiti specifically, nationals from more than a dozen other countries including Venezuela, Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan can also be awarded TPS.

The community of Springfield, Ohio, a mid sized city between Dayton