‘What does that do to the education of American children?’: JD Vance takes a shallow blow at immigrant children

JD Vance has been amplifying lies about immigrants since running with Donald Trump. Now, Vance is blaming immigrant children for degrading the quality of American education.

In a rally in Peoria, Arizona, a reporter asked Vance what he would do when Trump revokes the temporary protected status of migrants from Ohio. Vance took the time to accuse Harris of “granting amnesty” to undocumented immigrants. He then said that in Arizona’s schools, there were “thousands” of children who “don’t even speak the native language.”

Vance asked, “What does that do to the education of American children when their teachers aren’t teaching then, but they’re focused on kids who don’t have the legal right to be here?” He clarified that he had “nothing against” the children. Simultaneously, he said that the current border policies ruin American education.

Messaging that blames the children

It seems that Vance is struggling for consistency in his statements. Voters who buy his messaging would associate the corrosion of American education with migrant children. Surely immigrants are the problem, not the lack of funding in Arizona’s K-12 education. The underfunding of public schools is a large concern for people who live in Arizona. Blaming migrant children diverts people from pressing issues regarding the budget cuts that Arizona’s schools suffer from. Simply put, painting immigrants as the problem is both a lazy and an insidious move. 

Additionally, migrant children who are unable to speak English fluently learn in separate classrooms. Thus, teachers aren’t having a problem of divided attention, as Vance alleged.

This smear against immigrants is a consistent tactic in Trump and Vance’s campaign. Former President Trump accused the Biden administration of letting criminals in the US. Like Vance, Trump would point to immigrants as the reason for the country’s decline. Vance notoriously propagated false stories about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. These lies were deliberate and, unfortunately, harmful to Springfield residents.