JD Vance says mass deportations have been stalled because Biden 'gutted' immigration enforcement

Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the greatest obstacle to the mass deportations promised by President Donald Trump was policies implemented by the previous Biden administation.

Vance was responding to a question from Blaze Media national correspondent Julio Rosas about some disappointment in the number of deportations since Trump took office 44 days ago. The vice president took questions after visiting the Mexico-U.S. border at Eagle Pass, Texas.

‘We don’t have to go around and arrest every person, but we will enforce the American people’s immigration laws.’

“A lot of attention has been turned to the interior, since obviously there’s been a lot of illegal immigrants. What is, in your opinion, the biggest obstacle to actually carrying out President Trump’s mass deportations?” asked Rosas. “Even though, yes, apprehensions and arrests and deportations have gone up in his first month, but a lot of people were expecting a bigger capacity for deportations.”

“So let me say a few things about that,” Vance responded.

“First of all, Rome wasn’t built in a day. And we have seen pretty significant increases in deportations and apprehensions and arrests, but we have to remember that President Biden gutted the entire immigration enforcement regime of this country. We are trying to rebuild so that we actually empower people to enforce the immigration laws of the American people,” he added.

“It’s common sense; it’s what the American people want us to do,” Vance said.

“There’s a couple of other things that we are working on, and I don’t want go get ahead of any public announcements, but one of the ways that we wanted to make sure that we’re enforcing our border is that we make it easier for people who are here illegally to go back home of their own accord,” he continued.

“We don’t have to go around and arrest every person, but we will enforce the American people’s immigration laws,” Vance said. “If you’re here illegally, the message from our administration is: You should go back home, and if you want to come to the United States, apply through the proper channels. That’s an important thing that we’re doing.”

He went to say that another obstacle is the cost of enforcement, which he said the administration is prioritizing in order to continue increasing immigration enforcement.

“We’ve made a lot of progress, but we’re gonna keep working on it over the remainder of the president’s term,” he concluded.