In an interview this weekend, Ron DeSantis vowed that states will be given the authority to enforce U.S. border law if he is elected President.
“When I’m president, we’ve already said we will unleash the states. They’re going to be equal partners in enforcing immigration law. If somebody comes across the river illegally in Texas, Texas can send them back.” DeSantis told The Glenn Beck Podcast.
“Why do we need to end up in this big process where people are going to court and all this other stuff? It’s absurd. States should simply be able to do it.”
According to DeSantis, the Biden administration is pushing its open borders policies on Texas and Arizona under the pressure and threat of Justice Department resistance to those states attempting to enforce the laws.
DeSantis noted that the United States government is unlawfully prohibiting Texas, specifically, and Arizona, in part from protecting their own legal residents.
“We’ll be an administration that will work hand-in-hand with the states to secure our country,” he said.
“People say it’s the sole federal responsibility – yes, if we have a firm border policy, a state can’t let people in illegally, of course – but we have a policy that’s not being enforced fully, why should the states not implement it? DeSantis asked, adding that he would make it happen when elected.
DeSantis said the Biden open-border executive orders would be gone on Day 1 under DeSantis, vowing to declare the border a national emergency and a full deportation force to return all of the illegal immigrants the Biden administration has allowed into the country.
“When I get in, they’re all going back,” DeSantis said. “It’s already been incalculable. We’ll do a big repatriation and then stop Biden’s insane policies. We’ll build the wall. These claims shouldn’t be entertained when given a court date in three years; just have them wait on the other side of the border.”
DeSantis warned national security is at stake from the millions of illegal immigrants streaming in over the southern border, including from hostile regimes and terrorist states.
“Is there any way that we don’t have a terrorist attack in the future that is not linked to people coming across the border? Of course, it’s going to happen,” DeSantis said.
While asylum claims can be legitimate, there has been a penalty for attempting to come into the U.S. illegally, he concluded.
“If you’re not going to have a sanction for coming over illegally, then we’re going to continue to deal with this problem one way or another,” he said. “So that will be a sanction that we’re going to enforce. It hasn’t been implemented for many decades, probably back to Eisenhower, where we truly had it strong.”
“We’re going to establish that. We’ll work with Texas, we’ll work with Arizona, work with whoever wants to help us get the job done.”