Ron DeSantis traveled to the southern border on Monday to reveal his plan to deal with the migration crisis by authorizing the use of deadly force.
The governor and presidential candidate said the best way to deter cartels is to take down coyotes and smugglers and make it clear that they will be punished violently if they violate US laws.
“If you drop some of these cartel agents, they won’t come again,” DeSantis said Monday at a press conference off the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas.
DeSantis has repeatedly targeted former President Donald Trump for breaking promises he made during his campaign when he took office, such as building a wall along the entire southern border.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas on Monday for a campaign stop where he unveiled his plan to deal with the migration crisis
Speaking to a crowd in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, DeSantis vowed to change the rules of engagement when dealing with cartels and smugglers — saying violence and mass deportations would be put into effect
“I was in Arizona the other day, and you know, you have like walls and it just stops,” DeSantis explained during a campaign stop at the Texas border. “The cartel guy just hangs out where it stops and beckons people to go there.”
“So if you only have one piece, I mean, you have to finish the job, and you have a lot more to do on that,” the Florida governor insisted.
DeSantis’ trip on Monday marked the second time he visited the southern border since announcing his presidential campaign a month ago, underlining the importance the governor attaches to the migration crisis.
Speaking to reporters at a popular border crossing in Eagle Pass, Texas on Monday, DeSantis said that as president on day one he would reverse all executive orders issued by President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to cross the southern border.
“On January 20, 2025, we have a new sheriff in town,” he told Fox News.
Under the leadership of President Joe Biden, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has found about 5.5 million migrants crossing the southern border. Border hawks argue that the end of Title 42 of the pandemic-era eviction policy last month did not help alleviate an overworked agency dealing with a border crossing.
DeSantis said as president he would implement a stronger directive from the Department of Homeland Security to enable border enforcement officials to deter cartels from smuggling people and drugs from Mexico into the US
“Even in places where there was really serious steel beams and stuff, these guys in the cartels can cut through the really reinforced steel beams,” DeSantis told a crowd of Texans Monday. “I just think to myself, you spend all that money on that and you just let them go ahead and do it with impunity. And so, you know, I think you need adequate rules of engagement.’
DeSantis says former President Donald Trump has failed to keep his promises to address the southern border crisis
A U.S. Border Patrol boat surveys the waters of the Rio Grande River during DeSantis’s visit to the rea on Monday, during which he praised his immigration policies
“If someone broke into your house, you’d fight them off by force, wouldn’t you?” asked the candidate. “But if they have drugs, these backpacks, and they go in and they break through a forced structure, then we just have to let them in.”
“I say use force to repel them. If you do that once. They’ll never do it again,” DeSantis assured, cheering.
In addition to using force and completing the wall, DeSantis this week proposed several other initiatives he plans to implement at the border if he becomes president.
One of the most controversial plans is the mass deportation of illegal and undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.
DeSantis also wants to end so-called “catch and release” strategies, which have caused thousands of migrants to disappear into the country.
The presidential candidate agrees with Trump that primogeniture should end – meaning that just because someone was born in the US doesn’t mean they’re automatically a citizen. DeSantis says the birthright of citizenship is something Trump promised to end but failed to do in four years as president.
DeSantis said Monday he would reverse all executive orders executed by President Joe Biden that enabled mass migration and a collapse of the US immigration system.