JD Vance slams ex-ABC journalist’s 'fake' argument on Obama’s deportation record

WASHINGTON, DC: Vice President JD Vance criticized a former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran after Moran argued that the Obama administration carried out large-scale deportations without the kind of aggressive enforcement seen today.

The exchange followed a viral video from Minneapolis showing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents forcefully pulling a woman from her car, a clip that reignited online debate over how immigration enforcement under former President Barack Obama compared with current practices.

JD Vance rejects Terry Moran’s claims on Obama-era deportations

JD Vance responded on X on Wednesday, January 14, calling Moran’s argument “entirely fake” and pushing back against the portrayal of Barack Obama’s as a restrained enforcer of immigration law.

“In the Obama administration, they counted being turned away at the border as a deportation,” Vance wrote. He argued that migrants who were stopped at the border and immediately sent back were included in deportation figures, inflating the administration’s enforcement record.

Vance said the current situation required a different approach because deportations were now taking place from within the country. He blamed the Biden-Harris administration for allowing migrants to enter and remain in the US without enforcement, leading to interior removals rather than border turnarounds.

“We have to do deportations from the interior of the country because Biden and Harris let them walk in,” Vance wrote.

Vance contrasts sanctuary cities with non-sanctuary jurisdictions

Addressing the Minneapolis incident, Vance argued that clashes during deportation operations were largely limited to sanctuary jurisdictions.

“In the cities that are not sanctuary cities, the deportation process is orderly and normal, like most law enforcement,” he wrote.

According to Vance, local governments and activists in sanctuary cities had chosen to resist federal immigration enforcement, creating situations that escalated otherwise routine operations. He said this resistance was aimed at discouraging federal agents from carrying out deportations.

“They are hoping that a little chaos will convince us to give up on immigration enforcement,” Vance wrote. “They are wrong.”

Vance also took direct aim at Terry Moran’s credibility, accusing him of misrepresenting himself as a neutral journalist. He said Moran had posed as an objective reporter on a major network before being pushed out over partisan commentary

What Terry Moran said about the viral ICE operation video

Terry Moran had posted on X on Tuesday, January 13, responding to the viral ICE video from Minneapolis. He argued that Barack Obama deported more than three million people during his presidency without resorting to aggressive street-level tactics.

“No masked gangs descending on neighborhoods, snatching ordinary working people from their cars and disappearing them,” Moran wrote, describing current enforcement actions as “force, not law."

For context, Moran left ABC News last year after the network declined to renew his contract following social media posts attacking former President Donald Trump and senior White House adviser Stephen Miller. ABC News said the posts violated its standards of objectivity and professionalism.

In a now-deleted post, Moran described Stephen Miller as a “world-class hater” and accused Donald Trump of using hatred as a political tool, comments that ultimately led to his departure from the network.