JD Vance Says He'll Continue To Call Haitian Migrants 'Illegal Aliens'

Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, said he would continue to refer to Haitian migrants in Ohio as "illegal aliens" even though many of them are in the country legally.

The Ohio Republican, who has falsely accused Haitian migrants in Springfield of eating cats and dogs, said he wanted to "clarify and clear up" the notion put forward by Vice President Kamala Harris and the media that Haitians in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States are legal.

"What they mean is that Kamala Harris used two separate programs, mass parole and Temporary Protected Status," Vance said.

"What is fundamentally illegal is for Kamala Harris to say we're going to grant parole, not on a case by case basis, but to millions of illegal aliens who are coming to this country," Vance said during an appearance in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday.

"That does not magically make them legal because Kamala Harris waved the amnesty wand. That makes her border policy a disgrace, and I'm still going to call people illegal aliens," he continued.

The Biden administration in June extended Temporary Legal Status to Haitian migrants in the U.S. through Feb. 3, 2026, because of the violence and political upheaval in the Caribbean country.

There are about 20,000 migrants in Springfield, which has a population of 59,000.

Trump said in a speech last week that he would deport the Haitian migrants who are in Ohio.

Vance began spreading the bogus claims of Haitian migrants eating people's pets on X last week, and Trump highlighted the falsehoods during his debate the following night with Harris.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs — the people that came in — they're eating the cats," Trump said in response to a question about immigration. "They're eating — they're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame."

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Springfield city officials and police have all said the claims are unproven.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck told a Vance aide on Sept. 9 that the "claims were baseless" but the senator went ahead and posted on X anyway.

Since then, the town has endured a series of bomb threats that closed city offices, forced evacuation from several schools, shut down some businesses, and forced the governor to send State Police troopers to bolster the police presence.

Harris called out the "hateful rhetoric" when asked about Springfield during a sit down with the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia.

"It's a crying shame, literally, what's happening to those families, those children in that community," she said in the interview.

"When you are bestowed with a microphone that is that big, there is a profound responsibility that comes from that," Harris said.

"It means that you have been invested with the trust to be responsible in the way you use your words, much less how you conduct yourself, and especially when you have been and then seek to be again president of the United States of America," the vice president continued.