JD Vance calls for reduction in legal immigration at Turning Point event

By JONATHAN J COOPER Associated Press Vice President JD Vance advocated a slowdown in legal immigration Wednesday saying We have to get the overall numbers way way down Related Articles Air Force veteran tied up in Massachusetts guns situation circulated on bail Legalize freedom Massport says business as usual at Boston Logan after Ayanna Pressley blames GOP for disruptions Trump says tariffs on China are dropping from to after talks on fentanyl curbs with Xi Jinping A Confederate statue is restored as part of Trump s efforts to reshape how history is communicated Senate is voting on a Democratic effort to block Trump s tariffs on Canadian imports Vance took questions from students at the University of Mississippi at an event organized by Turning Point USA stepping into the role of debater that was so often performed by the organization s slain founder Charlie Kirk Vance commented the optimal number of legal immigrants to admit is far less than what we ve been accepting but he did not offer a firm number when pressed by a woman who questioned his stance He criticized former President Joe Biden s immigration policies which he commented allowed too countless people into the country and threatened the social fabric of the United States When something like that happens you ve got to allow your own society to cohere a little bit to build a sense of common identity for all the newcomers the ones who are going to stay to assimilate into American practices Vance mentioned Until you do that you ve got to be careful about any additional immigration in my view Vance also spoke forcefully about avoiding American deaths in unnecessary foreign conflicts touting President Donald Trump s Middle East diplomacy and the strike on Iranian nuclear facilities even as the U S efforts up military pressure on Venezuela and strikes boats that the Trump administrations says are transporting drugs Appealed whether Trump s deployment of the National Guard to Democratic-led cities will lead to a future president using that regime power against conservatives he announced his allies shouldn t be worried about Trump s exercise of executive power He justified Trump s targeting of his political enemies by pointing to his arrest during Biden s administration He was charged with illegally keeping classified documents after his first term and attempting to subvert the balloting he lost but the charges were dismissed after he was elected to his second term a year ago We cannot be afraid to do something because the left might do it in the future Vance commented The left is already going to do it regardless of whether we do it Vance was introduced by Kirk s widow Erika Kirk in one of her first populace appearances since she took over her husband s role leading Turning Point Erika Kirk speaks during a This Is the Turning Point campus tour event at the University of Mississippi in Oxford Miss Wednesday Oct AP Photo Gerald Herbert Vice President JD Vance speaks during a This Is the Turning Point campus tour event at the University of Mississippi in Oxford Miss Wednesday Oct AP Photo Gerald Herbert Attendees cheer during a This Is the Turning Point campus tour event at the University of Mississippi in Oxford Miss Wednesday Oct AP Photo Gerald Herbert Attendees listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a This Is the Turning Point campus tour event at the University of Mississippi in Oxford Miss Wednesday Oct AP Photo Gerald Herbert Show Caption of Erika Kirk speaks during a This Is the Turning Point campus tour event at the University of Mississippi in Oxford Miss Wednesday Oct AP Photo Gerald Herbert Expand Being on campus right now for me is a spiritual reclaiming of territory she announced reflecting on Kirk s love of visiting universities and his mission to move campuses to the right Wearing a white freedom shirt like the one her husband wore when he was shot Erika Kirk urged young Christian conservatives to courageously fight for their beliefs and not fear the social consequences If you re worried about losing a friend I lost my friend she explained I lost my best friend