J.D. Vance was left by a New York Times reporter baffled by his rebuttal of the argument that illegal immigrants are essential to the American economy.
The senator argued that a simple solution to the migrant crisis would be to employ the 7 million male Americans who have dropped out of the labor force, rather than relying on the annual influx of approximately 2 million undocumented migrants.
Vance says he doesn't believe America should rely on cheap immigrant workers and is a supporter of Donald Trump's proposal to deport all undocumented people living in the U.S. illegally
His argument sparked a social media firestorm when Lulu Garcia-Navarro, host of The Times podcast, was mocked for saying that if illegal immigrants were deported, the housing crisis would worsen and the workforce would cease to function.
Some MAGA accounts praised the vice presidential candidate for his argument.
Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks with reporters in front of the border wall with Mexico, September 6
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“JD Vance left NYT reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro speechless,” one X user wrote.
Another wrote of Vance: “Watch him stand up to this NYT journalist with facts, wit and charisma. It's amazing to see a powerful political force coming into its own right before our eyes.”
Vance argues that more Americans would work in jobs like construction if they were paid a living wage, but large companies are reluctant to do so because they can import cheap labor from Central America through undocumented workers.
Garcia-Navarro said in a podcast interview: “The reason for the housing crisis is that not enough houses were built.”
“And that we have 25 million people who shouldn't be here,” Vance shot back, adding, “I think it's both.”
“But about a third of the construction workforce in this country is Latino,” she noted. “A large proportion of them are undocumented.”
“So how do you propose to build all the necessary housing we need in this country by removing all the people working in construction?” – she asked.
“I think it's a fair question because we know that in the 1960s, when the level of illegal immigration was very low, Americans weren't buying houses, they weren't building houses. But of course it was. And I say this sarcastically, of course, for a cause, Lulu.
“The assumption that because a large number of house building companies now use undocumented labor, that this is the only way to build houses, I think again betrays a fundamental issue,” he said, but was interrupted.
“The needs are much greater,” insisted the NY newspaper. – I mean, I'm not advocating illegal immigration. I'm asking how you would deal with the knock-on effect of your proposal to remove millions of people who work in a critical part of the economy.
New York Times podcaster Lulu Garcia-Navarro said the United States relies on illegal immigrant labor and added that the housing crisis would worsen if all undocumented migrants were deported
Vance pointed to unemployed Americans who may be employed in construction or other blue-collar jobs that are not involved because of the wages companies are able to pay undocumented workers.
“That's one of the really crazy things that illegal immigration is doing to our society, in my opinion, is that we tell ourselves that we can only build houses with illegal immigrants and that we have 7 million only men – even women – only men who completely they have dropped out of the labor market,” said the candidate for vice president.
“People say, well, Americans won't do this job. Americans will not do this job for a wage below the table, they will not do this job for a wage that does not provide the means to live. But people will do the work. They will simply do the job for a certain rate.
The 4.1% unemployment rate does not include people who have dropped out of the workforce, which Vance said are people who are most likely to work in jobs like construction but feel disenfranchised by the American workforce.
If the Trump-Vance administration reaches the White House next year, the team said it would work to remove all illegal and undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
Vance says this would help alleviate the housing crisis because 25 million illegal immigrants would no longer take homes away from Americans in need of shelter.
“We cannot have the entire U.S. business community give up on American workers and then import millions of undocumented workers,” Vane said. “This is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris's border policies.”
“I think this is one of the biggest drivers of inequality,” he added. “This is one of the most important reasons why millions of people have dropped out of the labor market. Why try to re-employ an American citizen in a good job when you can just bring in someone from Central America to work under the table for poverty? It is a disgrace that has eviscerated the American middle class.”
