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Truth Be Told: Vance's false claim about the status of Haitians in the US

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, was incorrect to say that Vice President Kamala Harris has illegally allowed thousands of Haitians to stay in the U.S.

Here's why JD Vance's claim that Vice President Harris has illegally allowed thousands of Haitians into the country is incorrect. (Scripps News)

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

By: Patrick Terpstra

Posted

During a campaign stop in North Carolina, Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance falsely accused Vice President Kamala Harris of taking illegal action to allow Haitians to stay in the United States.

"She used two programs to wave a wand and to say we're not going to deport those people here," Vance said. "Well, if Kamala Harris waves the wand illegally and says these people are now here legally, I'm still going to call them an illegal alien."

The statement has inflamed the rhetoric about Haitians living in Ohio, who former President Donald Trump has baselessly said have eaten their neighbors' house pets.

Here's why Vance's claim is not true.

He is talking about the Temporary Protected Status designation the Department of Homeland Security has granted for hundreds of thousands of Haitians that lets them remain in the U.S. temporarily because of dangerous unrest back home.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the program's renewal for Haitians in July 2021.

"The Biden-Harris administration and the Department of Homeland Security are committed to supporting the Haitian people," Mayorkas said at the time.

While Trump opposes Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, other Republicans including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, have supported it in the past.

The second program Vance mentioned is known as humanitarian parole. It lets a limited number of Haitians come to the United States for two years if they have a financial sponsor and pass a background check.

It is part of a Homeland Security deal with Mexico that also cut the number of asylum seekers from Haiti allowed entry at the southwest border.

Both Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole stem from laws, approved by Congress beginning in 1990, that allow the executive branch to temporarily permit foreign nationals to be in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons.