EAGLE PASS, Texas (NewsNation) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke with voters in Eagle Pass and rolled out his border policy plan Monday, making it the first formal campaign policy of his 2024 presidential run.
DeSantis toured a section of the border in Eagle Pass on Sunday and took a boat tour on the Rio Grande, where Mexican media reported the presidential hopeful witnessed migrants crossing illegally.
Speaking with voters, DeSantis promised that the border would be a day-one priority for his administration and called out those who would dismiss the issue as only relevant to border states.
“When you don’t have control of your own border, that’s an American problem,” he said.
DeSantis said he would not allow migrants to claim asylum at the southern border. For those with bona fide asylum claims, he said, they would be required to wait in Mexico until their case could be heard by the courts.
Asylum is a legal right and currently, migrants must pass a credible fear interview in order to be allowed into the country while their asylum claim processes. Immigration courts have backlogs that can last years due to the number of cases.
DeSantis also said he would fully deputize state and local governments to enforce immigration laws and turn people away. He also pledged to punish sanctuary jurisdictions by withholding funding if they did not agree to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
The Florida governor’s “No Excuses” southern border policy plan focuses on the border wall, cartels and working with states to address the immigration crisis.
The biggest change DeSantis wants to enact is ending birthright citizenship for illegal migrants. He said he wants to end the idea that children of illegal immigrants are entitled to citizenship if they are born in the United States.
Regarding the border wall, DeSantis expressed his support for finishing construction and said he would change the rules of engagement so agents who saw people attempting to climb or cut the wall would be able to repel them with the use of force.
DeSantis pledged to target cartels to cut off the supply of fentanyl. Fentanyl overdoses are currently the leading cause of death for American adults ages 18 to 49. DeSantis indicated he would work to designate cartels as terrorist or transnational criminal organizations, in order to give the government more power to go after them.
DeSantis is also promising to use military force against drug cartels if necessary. He would also “reserve the right to operate across the border to secure our territory from Mexican cartel activities,” according to the plan, which also calls for the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard to block precursor chemicals from entering Mexican ports if “the Mexican government won’t stop cartel drug manufacturing.”
“We will use every bit of leverage at our disposal against both Mexico and every power at our disposal against the cartels,” he told his audience in Eagle Pass. “If they are trying to move product into this country and they are killing our people, you don’t only have the right, you have a responsibility to fight back.”
DeSantis called secure borders a “necessity” for a free society.
“I don’t consider myself some citizen of the world,” DeSantis said. “I’m an American, and being an American has to mean something.”
Florida state Rep. Kiyan Michael, who toured the border with DeSantis, said the Florida governor is the right candidate to achieve what other Republicans have promised but not completed.
“Everything he has told me he will do, he’s actually done it,” Michael said. “We can complete a border wall. It can be done.”
Border authorities encountered a record two million migrants last fiscal year. Back in May, the Florida governor sent more than 1,100 state law enforcement agents and National Guard members to the Texas border to assist with the border crisis after the expiration of Title 42.
Florida law enforcement officials assisted the Texas Department of Public Safety with over 600 arrests and encountered more than 10,000 undocumented migrants, DeSantis’ office announced last week.
DeSantis called attention to Florida’s efforts to repel migrants, noting that after the state stepped up enforcement against migrant boats, the number of boats dropped.
Under Title 42, migrants were turned away without going through an official removal process, so there was no record of their expulsion and no penalties for repeated efforts to cross. Since the reintroduction of Title 8, which does include an official removal and a ban on attempting to reenter the U.S. with the potential for criminal penalties, the number of unauthorized border crossings has dropped dramatically.
The launch of the Nationwide Coalition of Sheriffs to address the border crisis is another strategy from the DeSantis campaign to gather support for his new border policies.
The Florida governor’s campaign has also increased its attacks on former President and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on his handling of the southern border.
“Trump ran on this same promise in 2016, but ended up deporting fewer illegals than Barack Obama,” the DeSantis War Room tweeted.
DeSantis spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. on Friday, saying he’ll be the president to end the ongoing border crisis.
“I’ll finally be the president to bring the issue of our open southern border to a conclusion. I’ve heard about this since I’ve been an adult. For decades, we’ve complained about the open border, we’ve complained about everything that’s happening. Now is the time to act,” DeSantis said. On day one, we declare a national emergency — we mobilize all assets, including the military.”
Devan Markham contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.