JD Vance, in Day 2 of Arizona swing, set to talk about border security at Phoenix stop

U.S. Sen. JD Vance will spend another day campaigning in Arizona on Thursday with an event planned for the Arizona Biltmore in central Phoenix.

Vance, R-Ohio, is set to deliver afternoon remarks at the time-honored resort where over the years every president from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush has stayed.

Vance, tapped in July as the running mate of former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is expected to focus on immigration and border security, as he did Wednesday at a rally at Generation Church in east Mesa.

A written statement from the Trump-Vance campaign announcing the Biltmore stop focused on border-related issues such as drug trafficking that it blamed on the policies of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. The campaign again used the term “border czar” for Harris even though that was never an official title for her role in immigration policy during President Joe Biden’s administration.

“With immigration ranking among the top concerns for voters, it is time to secure the border and protect Arizonans from the dire consequences of Border Czar Harris’ failed policies,” the campaign said in the written statement. “President Donald J. Trump and Senator JD Vance are the only candidates willing to put Americans first, and Arizonans will send a clear message when they elect them in November.”

In an appearance Tuesday on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a Harris ally, defended her record and condemned Trump for torpedoing a bipartisan border-security bill that had been negotiated in the Senate. Trump didn’t want to give Biden an election-year legislative victory.

“I mean, when you look at what she stands for, the bipartisan border security bill that we negotiated with Republicans in the United States Senate, we could have gotten that passed and across the finish line if it wasn’t for Donald Trump,” Kelly said. “So Kamala Harris has stood for border security. She wants to get something done on this issue.”

Kelly noted that the right-leaning Border Patrol union was backing the bipartisan legislation.

“They did, and the reason they did is it was going to be more Border Patrol pay, money to hire more Border Patrol agents, more money to buy fentanyl detection machines,” he said.

Arizona is a crucial battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. Four years ago, Biden narrowly carried the state over Trump and became the first Democrat to do so since President Bill Clinton won Arizona in 1996. Before Clinton, no Democrat had carried Arizona since President Harry Truman in 1948.

Vance is on his second swing through Arizona since becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee. He previously headlined a rally in Glendale and visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Cochise County.

On that trip, Vance said Trump would finish building his signature border wall that began construction during his first administration, reimplement the Remain in Mexico policy and expand deportations.

“If people can come into this country and they know they’re never going to be deported, you effectively have an open border. That’s what Kamala Harris promised. That’s what Kamala Harris did, and Donald Trump and I promise to do exactly the opposite,” Vance said during his Aug. 1 border stop.

Here’s what the candidates say: Immigration is a top election issue in the Trump vs. Harris race

Dan Nowicki is The Arizona Republic’s national politics editor. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @dannowicki.

Stephanie Murray is a Republic national political reporter. Follow her on X @stephanie_murr.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: JD Vance in Phoenix: Trump running mate to speak at Arizona Biltmore