JD Vance Discusses Illegal Immigration, Drugs During Visit to Milwaukee Police Union

JD Vance delivers his vice presidential nomination acceptance speech. Photo by Jeramey Jannene

Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, Senator JD Vance On Friday morning, he held a campaign rally at the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) office, where he gave a short speech on public safety and illegal immigration and accepted the police association’s endorsement.

Vance used Friday’s stop to campaign on public safety issues, expressing support for law enforcement and blaming the policies of the Biden administration for drug overdose deaths and drug cartel activity. But the main issue he tied everything to was illegal immigration.

““We have to stop this anti-law enforcement madness,” Vance said. “We have to stop some of the policies that have been put in place by the Harris administration that make it harder for police to do their jobs.”

With the president Joe Biden out of the race, Vance aimed his criticism directly at Kamala Harrisoften referring to the “Harris Administration.” He pursued the vice president’s criminal record during her time as San Francisco district attorney.If you look at Kamala Harris’s record as a prosecutor, it’s the opposite of tough on crime.”

In his speech, Vance repeatedly sought to connect public safety issues like overdose deaths and drug cartels to illegal immigration and Harris. Biden nominated Harris to lead a migration response at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Vance said the US “millions of dollars in housing, shelter and medical care for people who shouldn’t be here, who should be going to our local police departments, and you put it into housing and medical care for illegal aliens.

The Ohio senator was asked about a statement he made in which he attributed earlier waves of Italian, Irish and German immigration to higher crime and conflict in American society. He replied that “there were a lot of benefits” to those waves of immigration, adding: “But has anyone ever seen the movie Gangs of New York? That’s what I’m talking about.

“We know that when you have huge ethnic enclaves in our country, sometimes that can lead to higher crime rates,” he said. “What we want is an American immigration policy that promotes assimilation, so that no matter where you come from, you can become an American.”

After holding a roundtable discussion with Wisconsin law enforcement officials, Vance said one sheriff told him: “He has members of a Mexican drug cartel who are doing business selling drugs and harming the citizens of his community.”

Vance again drew a connection between immigration and the border.

“So the border policies that we have on the southern border are making our communities less safe, even as far north as Wisconsin, it means Mexican drug cartels are operating in our communities. It means people are dying from fentanyl.”

The senator said fentanyl has become so widespread that it’s “in our marijuana bags that our teenagers are using.” He blamed the vice president. “American teenage mistakes have become death sentences because Kamala Harris refuses to do her job.”

Overdose deaths declined under Trump, who made the opioid crisis an issue during his first presidential race, Vance said. The annual number of opioid overdose deaths rose during Trump’s time in office and continued to climb after he left office, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.

“The fentanyl crisis really, really exploded under Kamala Harris, under the border czar’s administration, where she opened up the southern border, where fentanyl went completely out of control,” Vance said. “And if you talk to our law enforcement officials, they will tell you that the fentanyl problem has gotten much worse in the last few years than it has ever been under any administration, Democratic or Republican.”

In Milwaukee, fentanyl deaths began increasing in 2015. By 2016, they surpassed heroin as the leading cause of overdose deaths, and by 2020, the final year of Trump’s first term, three out of four overdose deaths in Milwaukee were attributed to fentanyl. In Milwaukee, fentanyl remains a serious public health concern, with the drug being implicated in more than 90% of overdose deaths.

MPA approval

Chairman of the MPA Alexander Ayala presented Vance with the official endorsement of the police association.

Ayala cited a number of issues he said pose challenges to the Milwaukee Police Department, including “rushed decisions in officer-involved shootings,” low bail for violent offenders, low morale among officers and a staffing crisis that often requires overtime.

“The Milwaukee Police Association believes the solution to these challenges lies here,” Ayala said. “That is why the MPA is endorsing the presidential ticket of Donald Trump and JD Vance, because addressing these issues isn’t so much political; it’s really a matter of life and death for Milwaukee.”

Vance was asked to respond to criticism of his decision to campaign at the police association’s headquarters, 6310 W. Blue Mound Rd., given Trump’s felony conviction and his positive comments about the Jan. 6 rioters. “I think Kamala Harris has weaponized the Justice Department,” Vance said, “not just against my running mate, not just against President Trump, but against a whole host of ordinary Americans, for simply exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Former MPA Chairman Andre Wagner also spoke Friday, blaming the Milwaukee Police Department’s declining staffing levels for the murder rate. Wagner also praised Trump’s decision to send federal law enforcement to Kenosha in response to the 2020 riots.

“He made sure that somebody got the officers back,” Wagner said. “And I can’t support this administration and President Trump anymore, because I know we have a partner in him, and I know he’s always going to have our backs.”

It was Vance’s first visit to Milwaukee since the Republican Party convention in July.

JD and Usha Vance attend Milwaukee Police Association endorsement event. Photo by Graham Kilmer.