COUNCIL BLUFFS — Vice President J.D. Vance discussed immigration, healthcare and agriculture at the Mid-America Center Friday ahead of the midterm election.
Vance took to the stage at noon. He followed Zach Lahn, the Republican nominee for Iowa Governor, and Chris McGowan, the Republican nominee for Iowa’s 4th congressional district for U.S. House.
“Zach’s biography speaks for itself. He’s a farmer. He’s a businessman. And he’s a guy who actually signed a paycheck, not just received a paycheck. He’s also a sixth-generation Iowan,” Vance said. “Now, Zach, of course, is going to be a great ally to those in Washington who are fighting for you as opposed to against you.”
After offering support to candidates, particularly Lahn, Vance transitioned to a review of the work of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Immigration
“For 16 months straight, we have released approximately zero illegal aliens across that southern border,” Vance said.
A release refers to allowing an undocumented immigrant to reside outside of an immigration facility in the U.S. until their immigration hearing. In Jan. 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14159, ‘Protecting the American People Against Invasion,’ that ended catch-and-release practices under section 2(c).
Individuals crossing the border without documentation will face charges of illegal entry, improper entry or illegal reentry, according to the American Immigration Council.
“It turns out when you get the violent criminals out of your country, you see the largest crime drop in violent crime in the history of the United States of America,” Vance said.
The nation’s violent crime rate fell by 9.3% in 2025, per the FBI. In 2024, the National Institute of Justice and the Texas Department of Public Safety found that undocumented immigrants were arrested for violent crimes at less than half the rate of native born citizens from 2012 to 2018.
Healthcare
“I saw a Republican President of the United States haul the executives of big pharmaceutical companies and say it is unfair and it is ridiculous to charge Americans a higher rate for drugs than you charge Europeans,” Vance said. “That’s why we’ve seen the fastest drop in prescription drugs in 60 years in the United States of America.”
In 2022, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, alongside Rand Healthcare, found that U.S. consumers pay $2.78 for every $1 paid in other countries. In Feb. 2026, Trump launched TrumpRx.
Per the TrumpRx website, TrumpRx saved Americans $700,000,000 and counting. NPR reported that only 12% of the 800 brand-name drugs produced by the participating companies are sold on TrumpRx. TrumpRx doesn’t sell drugs for HIV, cancer or inflammatory conditions.
In addition to the work of Trump, former President Joe Biden’s administration contributed to the 3.1% drop in prescription drug costs in one year. Specifically, through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices and caps out-of-pocket drug costs for individuals with Medicare.
Agriculture
“Farmers are the hardest working,” Vance said. “They’re the most patriotic men and women that any of us will ever meet. We want farming to be easier in the United States of America, not harder.”
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption allows farmers to inherit up to $15 million (indexed annually for inflation) in farmland without paying federal estate or gift taxes. In the case of marriages, each spouse qualifies for their own separate exemption.
“We did not want Washington to try to steal your farm when you try to pass your farm from one generation to the next. When you work that farm for 50, 60, 70 years and you go and meet the Lord, your farm ought to go to your family, not to DC bureaucrats,” Vance said.
Vance went on to state that the Trump administration expanded crop insurance and strengthened farm safety. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, $59 billion was directed towards farm safety enhancements, with $6 billion specifically for crop insurance.
Vance then compared the work of Trump to that of Biden.
“It was under Joe Biden’s leadership that for the first time the United States became a net importer of our own food,” Vance said. Now you know what that means? That means that we got more of our food from outside the United States of America than we did from our own farmers.”
The United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service found that the agriculture trade balance shifted to a deficit in 2019 for the first time in roughly 60 years. Trump served his first term from Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2021.
The shift to a deficit and related increase in imports stemmed from the U.S. consumer appetite for produce, alcohol and some processed food products. By 2025, U.S. imports surpassed exports by $41 billion.
E15
“We’ve cut restrictions on E15 more than any administration in American history,” Vance said.
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an E15 summer waiver granting the sale of E15 in the summer months. E15, a typically cheaper gas option, is a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline.
Iowa produces nearly 30% of all U.S. ethanol using 1.3 billion bushels of corn.
Previously, the EPA prohibited the sale of E15 during the summer months because of the Reid Vapor Pressure requirements of the Clean Air Act.
The EPA approved the waiver because of “ongoing issues in the Middle East.”