Vice President J.D. Vance pushed back Sunday on CBS News against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) over their concerns about the Trump administration’s focus on conducting mass deportations.
In his first week in office, President Donald Trump honed in on the U.S. southern border and illegal immigration, a key part of his campaign promise that resonated with voters. On “Face the Nation,” Brennan highlighted how the USCCB had publicly released a statement disagreeing with “the treatment of immigrants and refugees,” asking the vice president if he supported Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “conducting a raid or enforcement action in a church service” or at a school.
“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’s safety,” Vance said. “That’s not unique to immigration, but let me just address this particular issue, Margaret, because as a practicing Catholic, I was actually heartbroken by that statement.”
“I think that the U.S. 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 gonna protect the American people,” Vance added.
In a statement released Wednesday, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) President Archbishop Timothy Broglio said he took issue with several of Trump’s executive orders, including those that “focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment,” claiming they would have “negative consequences” for the “most vulnerable.”
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Vance went on to call out the USCCB, highlighting that their concerns should focus on the estimated 300,000 migrant children missing in the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration.
“Donald Trump promised to do that, and I believe the U.S. 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 continued.
“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 said.
Video footage that aired on Fox News Thursday showed ICE agents in Boston conducting raids and arresting illegal immigrants in the area. In one clip, a Haitian migrant, who, according to Fox’s Bill Melugin, is a gang member with 17 criminal convictions in recent years, was seen being arrested.
The migrant could be heard yelling praises for former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama before claiming he wouldn’t return to Haiti. However, border czar Tom Homan later stated during an interview that the migrant was, in fact, going back to his home country.
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America
