U.S. military members patrol the banks of the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, May 8, 2023.

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In Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance shied away from bombastic, untrue claims about immigrants eating people's pets, instead tackling topics like the impact of immigrants on the wages of U.S.-born workers.

“They make it harder for illegal immigrants to undercut the wages of American workers,” he promised. “Many people will go home if they cannot work for less than the minimum wage in our own country. And this will also benefit our employees, who simply want to earn a fair wage for a good day at work.”

Most labor economists disagree with the claim that immigrants depress the wages of native-born workers.

Vance carefully sidestepped questions about family separation, a policy that caused uproar during former President Donald Trump's administration. He falsely claimed that weapons were being smuggled across the Mexican border into the United States (in fact, this is the case). vice versa) and talked about immigrants being responsible for the housing crisis – a complex topic that even conservative analysts Let's say it existed before the current wave of migration, but was exacerbated by it.

Both candidates talked about fentanyl in the context of immigration, which remains a common myth: fentanyl is it mostly imported by persons legally entering the United States through ports of entry. Street sales of fentanyl are also possible dry out.

Video credit: Vice President Debate from CBS News.

Vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, for his part, reminded debate viewers of the bipartisan bill that would have strengthened border surveillance. It was killed at Trump's behest, and Walz reiterated Democrats' promise that if elected, Kamala Harris would sign it “on her first day in office.”

Video credit: Vice President Debate from CBS News.

Immigration is one of voters' biggest concerns and is seen as a weak point for Democrats, who are flexing their muscles in response. On her recent trip to the Arizona border, Harris vowed to “set and enforce rules at our border, and I take that responsibility very seriously.”

Nevertheless, Walz repeatedly criticized the Republican campaign's rhetoric on immigration during Tuesday's debate. He criticized Vance for how he spoke about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.

“When it becomes such a topic of conversation, we dehumanize and denigrate other people,” he said.

Vance didn't repeat it the false rumors he helped spread Earlier this month there was news about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats.

“The people I’m most concerned about in Springfield, Ohio are the American citizens,” Vance responded.