JD Vance says he will keep calling legal Haitian immigrants "illegal aliens"

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, doubled down on false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, insisting that he will refer to them as “illegal aliens” despite their legal immigration status, NPR reported.

In remarks at a Raleigh, North Carolina rally, Donald Trump’s running mate claimed that Haitian immigrants, who were paroled into the country and have authorization to work, have been unlawfully protected from deportation. He said that he and the GOP presidential nominee would respond to this with the “largest ever deportation."

Under President Joe Biden’s administration’s Humanitarian Parole and Temporary Protected Status programs, many Haitian immigrants arrived in the U.S. legally if they had a sponsor and met stringent criteria. These individuals are eligible to live and work in the country while they seek a longer-term immigration status, Newsweek reported.

"If Kamala Harris waves a wand, illegally, and says these people are now here legally, I'm still going to call them illegal aliens," Vance asserted. "An illegal action by Kamala Harris does not make an alien legal. That is not how this works."

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was recently extended for immigrants from Haiti living in the U.S. through Feb 3, 2026, protecting them against deportation, regardless of their legal status. Trump himself extended the same status to other immigrants when he was president.

Vance insisted he would continue to mislabel Haitians in his home state, regardless of their legal status.

"I'm still gonna call them an illegal alien," the Ohio Senator said.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, condemned Vance's words, writing on social media: "Every person approved entered with official US government permission and broke zero laws. Calling people who have never been out of status illegal aliens is a nihilistic view of law."