SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. — JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, called Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris a “chameleon” whose words “can’t be trusted” and vowed that GOP efforts to combat illegal immigration would improve lives during a campaign stop Wednesday in Macomb County.

Standing in front of law enforcement officials, Vance spoke briefly at a press conference outside the Shelby Township Police Department. Then, he took questions from members of the media for about 20 minutes, while saying reporters should “demand” that Harris also answer “tough” questions with 90 days until the general election.

Asked about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggesting last week that Harris only recently wanted to ” be known as Black,” Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio with biracial children, said the remark was “totally inoffensive” and an attack on Harris being a “chameleon” on policy. Harris’ mother was Indian and her father was Jamaican.

“She pretends to be one thing when she’s in front of one audience,” Vance said. “She pretends to be something else when she’s in front of another audience.”

“She’s a fake,” Vance added later. “And the American people have to look at her record if we actually want to know how she stands on the issues because her words simply can’t be trusted.”

Harris is the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president. She’ll appear at a rally in Wayne County with her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, later Wednesday night.

In a statement before Vance’s event, Lavora Barnes, chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said Vance would “only fearmonger and spread misinformation.”

“After J.D. Vance’s stunt event this morning, Michiganders will see a drastically different campaign and a brighter vision for a future they can believe in when Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz take the stage in Detroit today,” Barnes said.

While Harris plans to hold a rally with thousands in attendance, Vance’s event was mostly focused on addressing the media. Only a few dozen people were allowed inside the security perimeter for the outdoor event at Shelby Township’s government campus.

On illegal immigration

Most of Vance’s comments Wednesday morning focused on the subject of illegal immigration. If federal officials do more to deport those in the U.S. without documentation and secure the southern border, U.S. residents’ wages, ability to afford housing and security would all improve, Vance contended.

“I do believe in my heart that legal immigration can enrich this country,” Vance said. “But not illegal immigration, which is what Kamala Harris has done. All over this country, it’s made us less safe, it’s driven down wages for working Americans, and it’s made our communities less prosperous.

“We’ve got to stop this craziness.”

Vance appeared to reference the story of Joel Quintana-Dominguez, who was charged in Macomb County on July 19 with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under age 13, which carries up to life in prison if he’s convicted.

Shelby Township Police Sgt. Kevin Bailey previously told The Detroit News the investigation into Quintana-Dominguez started July 15, when relatives of the 32-year-old claimed he’d sexually abused a family member.

“The family came into the department and made a report, and our investigation started right away,” Bailey said. “Our detectives uncovered evidence that this abuse had happened multiple times with a family member. Detectives located him quickly and got him into custody; the detectives said he looked like he was ready to leave; he had his clothes packed, and they said it didn’t look like he was going to be around for long.

“Customs determined that he was here illegally, that he had been deported before, but found his way back in.”

Vance mentioned a criminal who had been “deported,” came back in and raped an 11-year-old girl.

“I cannot imagine having a government that cares so little about you that they’re letting people who come into our communities, get deported and then, they come back in and then, they rape our children,” Vance said. “That is a policy choice of Kamala Harris to suspend deportations and let somebody like that into our community.”

Quintana-Dominguez’s attorney Neal Brand said his client has been in the United States for “a long time,” although he said he wasn’t sure how long.

Brand said the immigration issue “isn’t what’s important right now.”

“The charges he faces carry up to life in prison, and if he gets life, his immigration status will be a moot point,” Brand said.

“I don’t like to comment on ongoing litigation, but my team and I have investigated these allegations, and it points to a not-guilty verdict,” Brand said. “I would think everyone would agree that no matter what his immigration status, he’s entitled to a fair trial, and he has to be found guilty in a court of law. That hasn’t happened yet; he hasn’t even been bound over (for trial).”

Harder to hire illegal immigrants

Halting illegal immigration has been a focus for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump since his first campaign for president in 2016 as he pushed for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that never fully materialized.

But the topic has come to the forefront in the 2024 campaign amid a surge in border crossings last year under Democratic President Joe Biden, who stepped aside from his reelection bid and endorsed Harris last month.

Trump suggested in an interview with TIME magazine in April that possibly 15 million people were in the country illegally. If he’s elected in November, he’s promised to launch the “largest deportation program in American history.”

Asked how Trump would make his mass deportation effort happen, Vance said the former president would first stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country and finish construction of the border of the wall.

“You start with the people who are most dangerous,” Vance said. “You start with the most violent criminals and make it harder for businesses to hire illegal aliens. And you work your way down from there.”

He added, “If you’re not willing to tell at least some of the people who are in this country illegally that you have to go back, then you don’t have a real border policy.”

Among those who appeared with Vance on Wednesday morning were Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido, Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide and James Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan.

After the event, Tignanelli said he wasn’t certain whether crimes committed by illegal immigrants had gone up in Michigan because a person’s immigration status wasn’t always part of law enforcement’s screening process.

“I don’t think we were always getting that information,” Tignanelli said.

Shelby Township is a suburban Detroit community with about 80,000 residents. Its voters lean heavily in favor of Republicans.

Wednesday’s event was the second of the year where Trump’s campaign has focused on illegal immigration in Michigan, a state that’s about 2,000 miles from the southern border. Trump held a conversation with Michigan sheriffs on the topic in April.

Asked if the Republicans’ messaging around illegal immigration was the key to them winning in November, Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra said illegal immigration was one of the top issues in the race.

“I am sure they’re going to hammer the economic issue very, very hard as well,” Hoekstra predicted.

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