MIAMI – The governor of Florida and presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, presented this Monday in Texas a plan for the border with Mexico with the objective of “stopping the invasion” and guaranteeing security “once and for all.”
The plan includes reactivating some measures taken by Donald Trump when he was president (2017-2021), such as the construction of the wall, something that did not go unnoticed by the former president’s campaign, which accused the governor of plagiarizing him this Monday, but also other new ones. like convincing Panama to put an end to the passage of immigrants through the Darien jungle.
He also said he would end birthright citizenship for the children of “illegal” immigrants.
“DeSantis will take steps to end the idea that the children of illegal immigrants have a right to citizenship if they are born in the United States,” said a statement from his campaign office.
This very idea is a campaign promise that Trump made.
“As president, I will declare a national emergency from day one and I will not rest until we build the wall, close illegal entry and win the war against the drug cartels. There are no excuses. We will do it,” he said during a campaign event. in Eagle Pass, Texas.
The governor of Florida, who is the rival that follows Trump, albeit by far, in the polls ahead of the Republican primaries, has made the fight against irregular immigration the main horse of his electoral campaign.
In addition to promoting a law that will go into effect on July 1 and is seen as the toughest against undocumented immigrants, last week he announced the creation of a coalition of sheriffs from across the United States in order to protect the community from ” the ravages of the collapsed border” with Mexico.
He has also promoted a program to send asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants from the Mexican border to Democratic-controlled states and cities and sent Florida forces to help Texas control its border territory.
MEASURES TO “STOP THE INVASION”
At the rally this Monday in Eagle Pass, he repeated his criticism of US President Joe Biden, who seeks to be re-elected in 2024, for his handling of the border, but did not exempt his own party from blame.
“For decades leaders of both parties have made empty promises about border security, and now is the time to act to stop the invasion once and for all,” he said.
Among the measures announced to ensure “operational control” of the border are: keeping everyone who crosses “illegally” in custody until their hearing date and making asylum seekers remain in Mexico until their application is processed.
Likewise, he promised to deport those who exceed the time to remain in the US that their visa marks and announced that he will increase the salary of Border Patrol agents and will order a recruitment campaign aimed at ex-military and police officers for positions in customs and borders and immigration.
CRITICS OF THE DESANTIS PLAN
“DeSantis is copying President Trump’s Agenda 47 because he doesn’t have an original idea of his own,” the former president’s campaign said Monday.
Interestingly, a spokesman for the Democratic Party, Ammar Moussa, said the same thing: “This latest plan is more of the same, political gimmicks that are simply an echo of the same cruel and callous policies of the Trump administration that broke our immigration system.” .
Other points in DeSantis’ plan include taxing remittances from foreigners in an irregular situation and strengthening and enforcing E-Verify, a program that requires companies to report the immigration status of their employees.
He also plans to ban parole in immigration-related cases, deport criminal aliens, defund and prosecute entities that aid or conspire to violate US immigration laws, and seek Congress to strengthen penalties for human trafficking. smuggling and recurrent illegal re-entry.
The governor promises to work with the Panamanian authorities to close the “Darien Gap”, the jungle area that connects the isthmus with South America, and thus prevent future caravans of immigrants.
In this same sense, he announced that he will establish priorities with the CFD, a US state agency for development aid, in order to identify “opportunity areas” in Central and South America for immigrants returned from the US to settle and change immigration patterns.
