Vice President Joe Biden is chastising the entire field of Republican presidential hopefuls over what he categorizes as "dangerous, damaging and incredibly ill-advised" rhetoric on the subject of immigration.

Biden made his comments at the inaugural ceremony of the bilateral High Level Economic Dialogue conference in Mexico City.

"The message that is coming out of the United States as a consequence of the presidential campaign, about American attitudes toward Mexicans and Mexico generally, the entire hemisphere and our place in the world, is disturbing," the vice president said.

Trump Calls Immigrants as 'Criminals' and 'Rapists'

While Biden refrained from addressing candidates by name, it's widely assumed his comments were mostly aimed at GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

On the day he formally launched his campaign, Trump called Mexican immigrants "criminals" and "rapists." Since then, he has vowed to deport as many as 11 million immigrants in as little as 18 months and build a massive wall along the Mexican border

Cruz Calls for Tighter Border Control

Recently, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Trump's chief rivals for the GOP nomination, joined the chorus of Republican leaders calling for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

"Yes, we should deport them," Cruz told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. "That's what ICE exists for. We have law enforcement that looks for people who are violating the laws, that apprehends them and deports them."

Cruz also called for dramatically increased border patrol and seconded Trump's call for the construction of a wall along the border.

Up until recently, Cruz had resisted addressing details of how he would handle the issue of immigration if he were elected. Not long ago, he directly rejected the notion of a "deportation force," as Trump has repeatedly called for.

"I don't intend to send jackboots to knock on your door and every door in America. That's not how we enforce the law for any crime," he told CNN's Jake Tapper earlier this year.

In Mexico City, Biden minced few words in criticizing all those he feels have sought to politicize the issue.

"Here's what I'm here to tell you. They do not represent the view of the vast majority of the American people," he said of his GOP rivals.

In contrast to her Republican rivals, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has vowed to move on immigration reform within her first 100 days in office if she is elected as president.

"Absolutely. We're going to introduce legislation," she told a town hall gathering of voters in Nevada. Clinton went on to defeat Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders 53 to 47 percent in that state's primary earlier this month.

The American delegation accompanying Biden included Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. Top Mexican Cabinet economic officials, including Finance Secretary Luis Videgaray, were also in attendance.

Related