Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance asserted that, on their first day in office, Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris suspended deportation, stopped construction of the border wall and reimplemented catch and release.

.@JDVance1 in Virginia: “On her very first day in office, she and Biden suspended deportations, they stopped construction of the border wall and they reimplemented catch and release. The border crisis is a Kamala Harris crisis.” pic.twitter.com/1iltqo3ftx

— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) July 22, 2024

Verdict: True

Executive orders halting construction of the border wall and a pause on deportations, along with multiple others, were signed on the first day of the administration. A new policy around catch and release was enacted the next month.

Fact Check:

During his first solo rally in Ohio July 22, Vance attacked the Democratic Party for Biden’s withdrawal and for backing Harris without holding a new primary vote, ABC News reported. Several claims have originated in the wake of Biden’s withdrawal, including allegations that a “coup” had taken place, according to NPR.

A post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows Vance at a rally in Virginia discussing the record of the Biden administration saying that they removed policies that former President Donald Trump had implemented during his term in office. “On her very first day in office, she and Biden suspended deportations, they stopped construction of the border wall and they reimplemented catch and release,” Vance stated. (RELATED: Has J.D. Vance Been Divorced Twice?)

This claim is correct. Credible news reports, such as Politico, have indicated that Biden did pause deportations for 100 days, and stopped the border wall construction. A fact-sheet from the White House, dated Jan. 20, 2021, shows that stopping border wall construction was listed on the president’s “day one” agenda.

“By proclamation, President-elect Biden will today declare an immediate termination of the national emergency declaration that was used as a pretext to justify some of the funding diversions for the wall,” the section on the border wall reads. “The proclamation directs an immediate pause in wall construction projects to allow a close review of the legality of the funding and contracting methods used, and to determine the best way to redirect funds that were diverted by the prior Administration to fund wall construction.”

The administration suspended deportations for 100 days, along with the controversial “remain in Mexico” policy as part of a review and “reset” of policies within the Customs and Border Protection and other immigration agencies, according to the Texas Tribune. The Acting Department of Homeland Security wrote on Jan. 20, 2021 that “For 100 days, starting January 22, 2021, DHS will pause removals for certain noncitizens ordered deported…”

Catch and release is a term about releasing immigrants into the community after they’ve been processed by border authorities, according to Wikipedia. Biden reimplemented catch and release as well, New York Post reported in February of 2021. (RELATED: Fact-Checking Trump’s Claim That VP Harris Has Never Gone To The Border)

According to The Hill, some of the procedures used from March 2021 through August 2022, which reportedly relied on “voluntary compliance.” The policy was blocked by a federal judge in March 2023, Reuters reported at the time.

Check Your Fact contacted both the White House and the Trump and Vance campaign team for comment. We will update this piece if a response is provided.