Vice President J.D. Vance made the case for the Trump administration’s immigration policy and opposition to “birthright citizenship” during his first interview in office with CBS’s Margaret Brennan on “Face The Nation.”
“The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week condemned some of the executive orders signed by President Trump, specifically those allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enter churches and to enter schools. Do you personally support the idea of conducting a raid or enforcement action in a church service, at a school?” Brennan asked in typical ‘gotcha’ fashion.
“Well, let me address this. Of course, if you have a person who is convicted of a violent crime, whether they’re an illegal immigrant or a non-illegal immigrant, you have to go and get that person to protect the public safety. That’s not unique to immigration. But let me just address this particular issue because, as a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement,” Vance began.
“I think that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line? We’re going to enforce immigration law. We’re going to protect the American people,” the VP continued.
“Donald Trump promised to do that. And I believe the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, if they’re worried about the humanitarian costs of immigration enforcement, let them talk about the children who have been sex trafficked because of the wide open border of Joe Biden — ” Vance said as Brennan interrupted: “So you personally support them going into schools and churches?”
Vance schools illegal migrant ally and CBS host Margaret Brennan about the administration’s deportation operation. pic.twitter.com/IL0ukFb8Ng
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) January 26, 2025
“Let them talk about people like Laken Riley who were brutally murdered. I support us doing law enforcement against violent criminals, whether they’re illegal immigrants or anybody else, in a way that keeps us safe,” Vance responded. “Let me ask this question, Margaret. Let’s separate the immigration issue. If you had a violent murderer in a school, of course, I want law enforcement to go and get that person out. So then, what’s the point of the question?”
“You changed the regulation this week, that’s the point of the question. Giving the authority to go into churches and go into schools,” Brennan said. Vance retorted: “Exactly. We empowered law enforcement to enforce the law everywhere, to protect Americans…” That led the left-wing host to voice support for immigrants: “But that also has a knock-on effect — a chilling effect, arguably, to people to not send their kids to school.” Vance countered: “I desperately hope it has a chilling effect on illegal immigrants coming into our country.”
