Vance Calls for Slowing Down Legal Immigration at Turning Point USA Event

Vance made the remarks while taking questions from students after delivering a speech at the University of Mississippi during a Turning Point USA event.

Vice President JD Vance takes the stage during a "This Is the Turning Point" campus tour event at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Oct. 29, 2025. Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

Vice President JD Vance on Oct. 29 said the rate of legal immigration should be slowed down, saying that too many people have been allowed into the United States, undercutting U.S. wages and challenging social cohesion.

“Right now, we have let in too many immigrants into the United States of America,” the vice president said. “That is just a fundamental reality now.”

Vance made the remarks while taking questions from students after delivering a speech at the University of Mississippi during a Turning Point USA event. At the event, he acted as debater, a role previously performed by the organization’s late founder, Charlie Kirk.

“I think the evidence is pretty clear that a lot of those immigrants are actually undercutting the wages of American workers,” he said, noting that that was one of the reasons that President Donald Trump and others in his administration have encouraged H-1B visa reform.

He said that while some immigrants can enrich the country, “too many people have come into the United States.”

“We have got to get our overall numbers way, way down,” he said.

Touching on the issue of immigration outpacing assimilation, he said: “You’ve got to allow your own society to cohere a little bit, to build a sense of common identity for all the newcomers to assimilate ... into American culture. Until you do that, you’ve got to be careful about any additional immigration, in my view.”

Pressed by one woman who questioned his position, Vance said that while he respects that there are people who have legally entered the United States and contribute to the country, it does not mean that the United States should commit to immigration policies that could permit millions more people to come in the future.

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“[There are] too many people who want to come to the United States of America, and my job as vice president is not to look out for the interests of the whole world,” Vance said. “It’s to look out for the people of the United States.”

The vice president did not specify a target number for legal immigration, saying that it would depend on the circumstances and on providing enough space for newcomers to settle and integrate into U.S. society.

“What is the exact number of immigrants America should accept in the future?” Vance asked. “Right now, the answer is: far less than we’ve been accepting.

“We have got to become a common community again, and you can’t do that when you have such high numbers of immigration, which is one of the reasons why we have the immigration policy we do.”

Attendees listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a "This Is the Turning Point" campus tour event at the University of Mississippi, in Oxford, Miss., on Oct. 29, 2025. Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

Vance was introduced on stage by Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who has taken a leading role at Turning Point USA as its CEO.

In his speech before taking questions, Vance reflected on the advice that Charlie Kirk had given to young people, including his recommendation that they get married, find a vocation, and build a family.

“That was the advice that he gave on campuses,” Vance said. “But that’s not just about you. That’s also about our country and about our government, because while you have the freedom to live life as you so choose, I have got a responsibility as your vice president to make the American dream as accessible as possible.

Attendees cheer during a "This Is the Turning Point" campus tour event at the University of Mississippi, in Oxford, Miss., on Oct. 29, 2025. Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

“This is why we care about all the things that we care about. Why do I care so much about having a secure border in the United States of America?

“It’s because I believe that when you let in a flood of illegal immigration, what it does is it drives down the wages of young people and makes housing unaffordable for the entire American population. That’s why we closed down the border.”

“The left will say our immigration policy is about hating immigration, hating immigrants,” Vance said. “We don’t hate anybody. We love our fellow citizens, and because we want them to have the American dream, we shut that border down the very first day that Donald J. Trump was the president of the United States.”