The point is that when Clinton signed the "Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996" which erased a whole series of constitutional protections for non-citizens, we were told, don't worry this will never hit citizens. This was a transparently racist rationalism for repression, but it did help sell it at the time. Never mind the fact that Clinton rushed this through during the hysteria following the Oklahoma City bombing, a case of domestic terrorism by a white guy.

In the current case, the point isn't Vance himself. The point is that accepting state repression against any individual or group greases the skids for it being rolled out against others.