On Monday, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis discussed his border security plan if elected president in 2024, calling the illegal immigration crisis an “invasion.” DeSantis’ plan includes using “deadly force” against drug cartels, finishing construction of the border wall, and ending birthright citizenship.
“I have listened to people in D.C. for years and years and years, going back decades — Republicans and Democrats — always chirping about this yet never actually bringing the issue to a conclusion,” DeSantis said. “What we’re saying is no excuses on this.”
“The parole [President Biden is] doing is unconstitutional. We have actually won against him in court in Florida. We have sued him on things like catch and release. He’s abusing the law to basically change the law to allow people to have an open border,” he added. “We’re going to deputize state and local officials to also enforce immigration laws.”
DeSantis went on to propose using “deadly force” to stop drug cartels: “If you drop a couple of these cartel operatives trying to do that, you’re not going to have to worry about that anymore… You do it one time and they will never do it again.”
“If the feds have the responsibility to do immigration, and they decide to just not do it, then are we just helpless, and we don’t have the laws enforced at all?” DeSantis said. “I think the states have a role to play. I can tell you as president, we’re gonna fully deputize all state and local governments to be able to enforce it.”
“For us, it’s going to be a national emergency on day one. This is going to be mobilizing all available assets on day one. We have a plan for all the different levers of authority that we have to be able to bring this to bear,” he added.