EAGLE PASS, Texas — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis released the first formal policy of his presidential campaign Monday, a series of immigration-related proposals his team dubbed “No Excuses,” a reference to what he considers a failure. of former President Donald Trump to fulfill his promises.
The launch comes as DeSantis leans toward immigration as a way to hit Trump from the right, while also criticizing the policies of President Joe Biden. On Sunday night, DeSantis also toured the Texas border, where he authorized the dispatch of 1,100 members of the Florida National Guard and police.
DeSantis, trailing Trump in national polls by large margins, vows to send Navy and Coast Guard resources to stop Chinese fentanyl-related precursor chemicals from reaching Mexican ports “if the Mexican government delays.” in helping. The United States has never taken this step before.
He insists that he will work with Panama to “close” the Darien Gap, a lawless stretch of jungle where migrants from Central America make the perilous journey to the US.
A common refrain among Republicans for years, DeSantis also said he will end what’s known as “catch and release,” the process in which migrants are released into the US while they await their asylum proceedings, and reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy. , which ended the administration of President Joe Biden.
DeSantis also wants to increase the salary of Border Patrol agents to increase recruitment, with the goal of hiring ex-military and police officers at the US Customs and Border Protection and the Immigration and Enforcement Service. Customs. He plans to end birthright citizenship, the policy under which children of undocumented immigrants who are born in the US automatically become US citizens.
DeSantis said he will strengthen penalties for human trafficking and stop funding non-governmental organizations “that encourage mass migration.” His administration would also sanction and restrict visas from countries that do not accept deportees, as well as declare the Mexican drug cartels Transnational Criminal Organizations.
After Florida passed a sweeping immigration bill last month that took effect July 1 and tightened electronic verification requirements for businesses with more than 25 employees, DeSantis said he plans to do the same at the federal level.
Unlike Trump, he does not say that Mexico will pay for the border wall. Instead, his campaign claims that DeSantis “will use every dollar available to him as president and every dollar he can get out of Congress to get it done.” DeSantis also said he will tax remittances from undocumented immigrants, with exemptions for US citizens and lawfully present foreign nationals.
The policy’s release comes as Republicans seek to make immigration a major issue in the GOP primary race. In recent months, Trump has mentioned sending “special forces” and using “cyber warfare” to target cartel leaders if he is re-elected president. More Republican lawmakers are joining the idea of using military force to fight the Mexican cartels. Both House members and senators have introduced legislation to label some cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
On Friday, the Justice Department announced charges against China-based chemical manufacturing companies and executives, saying the Drug Enforcement Administration had seized more than 200 kilograms of fentanyl-related precursor chemicals during the investigation, an amount that could contain enough deadly doses to kill 25 million Americans.
In response to DeSantis’ policy release Monday, the Trump campaign highlighted his own immigration plans, which include issuing an executive order to end birthright citizenship, building more border wall, reimplementing Title 42 and switch law enforcement to immigration enforcement. The Trump campaign also said the former president plans to “conduct the largest internal deportation operation in American history” and deploy the US Navy to impose a full embargo on drug cartels.
Trump spokesman Jason Miller tweeted that DeSantis is the “Fisher Price version of President Trump” when it comes to immigration, using an image from a 2018 DeSantis campaign ad in which he is playing blocks with his daughter to show his support for Trump and his push to build the border wall.
