Staff Reports
Senator JD Vance of Ohio recently made headlines on ABC’s “This Week” with a bold proposal for mass deportations under the Trump administration, suggesting an ambitious target of one million individuals to start. Anchor Jonathan Karl posed the inevitable, tricky question about practicality, bringing up the massive figures of 15 to 20 million undocumented immigrants reported in the U.S. The chasm between wanting to send people home and actually accomplishing it is a wide one, but Vance offered a refreshing dose of common sense that even Karl couldn’t quite wrap his head around.
Vance pointed out that the crux of the issue lies in the current state of the southern border—essentially a wide-open passageway thanks to the Biden administration’s lax policies. This portrayal of the current border situation wasn’t what Karl had in mind, as he scrambled to clarify that Kamala Harris never officially held the title of “border czar.” Vance’s perspective, however, strikes a chord; even if the media didn’t bestow the title upon her, her failures in managing border security speak volumes. Who wouldn’t want a czar, or any title for that matter, to live up to some basic standards?
GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance, in a wide-ranging interview with @JonKarl, says the Trump campaign's mass deportation plan should “start with 1 million.” https://t.co/4rga61suQa pic.twitter.com/DYWK96crOY
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 11, 2024
Inevitably, Karl threw in a cheeky jab about the logistics of knocking on doors to check immigration status, as if that were the only option on the table. Vance gracefully sidestepped that absurdity, pointing out that the “right attitude” is about starting with what is actually manageable. Why focus hopelessly on the 20 million quandary when begin with the reasonable target of one million? The plan involves tackling the deportation of violent offenders first and vigorously enforcing laws that make it harder for employers to exploit illegal labor. It’s a matter of practicality that leaves liberal hand-wringing in the dust.
The senator certainly didn’t shy away from addressing what many consider to be the elephant—or should that be the wall—in the room. Under the previous administration, there was a coherent strategy to manage immigration, and Vance asserted that Trump’s approach emphasized the necessity of deportation. The idea that the United States can maintain any semblance of border security without removing individuals who unlawfully entered is simply ludicrous.
In a world where political correctness often clouds judgment, Vance’s directness stands out. By proposing to handle the problem piece by piece, his approach may actually find some common ground with the American electorate beyond the typical partisan divides. For too long, the focus has all too often been on how massive the issue appears rather than on actionable steps to solve it. Whether citizens are ready to hear the truth remains to be seen, but Vance’s logic certainly adds a refreshing clarity to an otherwise convoluted conversation.
