Former President Donald Trump was unimpressed by Gov. Ron DeSantis’s immigration policy, which he rolled out on Monday, noting that the Florida governor would simply “do all of the things done by me.
DeSantis formally announced his plan to address the U.S. border crisis on Monday after visiting the southern border over the weekend. During an event in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday morning, DeSantis previewed a few of the actions he would take, including cracking down on sanctuary cities and finishing the wall.
A summary from DeSantis’s office specified even more actions the governor would take, including ending catch-and-release and reinstating Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy.
Trump pointed out the similarities.
“DeSanctimonious showed up today in Eagle Pass, on the Texas Border, with almost no crowd or excitement,” Trump remarked on Truth Social, calling DeSantis a “failed candidate, whose sole purpose in making the trip was to reiterate the fact that he would do all of the things done by me in creating the strongest Border, by far, in U.S. history.”
“A total waste of time!” he exclaimed.
During DeSantis’s Eagle Pass event, the governor laid out some of the ongoing issues plaguing the country due to Biden’s border crisis.
“Our own government acknowledges that you’ve had a significant number of people on its own terrorist watch list that have come across the border, and we know there have been a lot of criminal aliens that have come across the border. So this is a huge problem,” he said, explaining that he would “fully deputize all state and local governments to be able to enforce immigration law.”
He also said he would designate cartels as either a transnational criminal organization or foreign terrorists in order to “unleash more federal power to be able to kneecap the cartels.”
During that event, DeSantis also said his administration would take another look at current rules of engagement on the southern border.
“And so you know, I think you need adequate rules of engagement. … If someone was breaking into your house, you would repel them with the use of force, right?” DeSantis asked, floating the use of force.
We will secure the border.
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 25, 2023
We will stop the cartels.
We will build the wall.
We will stop the invasion.
NO EXCUSES. @RonDeSantis will get it done. pic.twitter.com/VUmx1er9o3
WATCH the full event below:
Governor DeSantis Holds a Press Conference in Eagle Pass, Texas https://t.co/dnA6iCUcdw
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 26, 2023
Last month, Trump rolled out a new immigration policy pledge, promising to effectively end birthright citizenship for illegal aliens on “day one” in office.
“As part of my plan to secure the border, on day one of my new term in office I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law going forward the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship,” Trump said in the video.