Vance: 'Hard to believe' how poorly Harris has handled US-Mexico border until you 'see it with your own eyes'

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance is tearing into Kamala Harris for the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, telling reporters during a visit there Thursday that it is "hard to believe" until you "see it with your own eyes." 

Vance, speaking in Cochise County, Arizona, said "If people can come into this country and they know they're never going to be deported, you effectively have an open border." 

"It's hard to believe until you see it with your own eyes, just how bad the policies of the Kamala Harris administration have been when it comes to the southern border," Vance said. "They started their administration, Kamala Harris came into office... they stopped deportations on day one. They stopped construction of the border wall. 

"We see the border wall sitting here, ready to be completed behind us. And that can't happen because of Kamala Harris's administration. They reinstated catch and release and they stopped remain in Mexico," he continued. "So all these asylum claimants who come to our border, they can now get released into our country because they're not forced to stay in Mexico while we adjudicate their asylum claims." 

BORDER DISTRICT REPUBLICAN INVITES KAMALA HARRIS TO VIEW CRISIS FIRSTHAND: ‘STICKS OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB’ 

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, addresses the media during his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Hereford, Arizona, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024.  (Grace Trejo/Arizona Daily Star via AP)

Vance described the "human toll" of the ongoing immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border as the "thing we cannot forget." 

"We have got kids who can't learn in schools because [they] have been overwhelmed with migrant children who shouldn't be there," Vance said. "We've got hospitals where the wait times have exploded because illegal aliens are standing in front of the line of American citizens." 

"The media needs to tell the truth and Kamala Harris needs to change course on this crazy border, the border mess, or the people who suffer the most are the people who can least afford to suffer," he declared. 

BORDER MAYORS JUDGE HARRIS’ PERFORMANCE ON IMMIGRATION CRISIS AS VICE PRESIDENT 

JD Vance says Vice President Kamala Harris needs to "change course" on her approach to the U.S.-Mexico border. (Getty Images)

Vance also described securing the border as "not rocket science." 

"You just have to re-implement some commonsense policies. You've got to re-implement remain in Mexico. You've got to stop catch and release," he said. "You've got to force these asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their claims are being adjudicated. And you've got to finish this border wall and re-implement deportations." 

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks to local border patrol agents and farmers during his visit to the U.S-Mexico border on Thursday. (Grace Trejo/Arizona Daily Star via AP)

The Harris campaign, when contacted by Fox News Digital on Thursday, mentioned how Harris was endorsed this week by a group of mayors in Arizona border towns "praising her long record of fighting to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system, including her work going after transnational gangs smuggling weapons and drugs as California Attorney General and bringing border crossings to their lowest level in years with tough border policies in the White House."

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.