DeSantis unveils plan for sweeping immigration crackdown

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday unveiled a tough new immigration policy designed to take on former President Donald Trump from the right wing as he seeks to reverse a slump in the polls.

The Republican presidential candidate vowed to end birthright citizenship, use the U.S. military to crack down harshly on Mexican drug cartels and finish the southern border wall that Trump failed to complete despite years of promises.

“Going back decades — Republicans and Democrats — [are] always chirping about this yet never actually bringing the issue to a conclusion,” DeSantis told an audience of a few dozen people in the border town of Eagle Pass. “What we’re saying is: no excuses on this.”

DeSantis slammed President Biden for failing to manage what conservatives call a crisis at the southern border.

Without naming Trump, DeSantis blamed the previous administration for failing to complete the border wall or prevent large-scale undocumented immigration, which he correctly notes is a top priority for conservative voters.

The sweeping plan was framed as the first of a series of policy prescriptions for DeSantis, who has slumped to a very distant second to Trump in GOP polls.

But most of the actual proposals are little different from those Trump sought to implement with very mixed results during four years in the White House.

Others face long odds because they would need sweeping legal changes, approval from Mexico or political cooperation from Democrats that is highly unlikely.

Trump wasted no time panning DeSantis, noting that his rival spoke before a small audience instead of the large crowds of loyal supporters that the former president draws to his rallies.

“He is 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,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

Progressives and immigrant advocates condemned DeSantis for speaking about illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers as an “invasion,” language that is often used by white nationalist groups.

DeSantis has previously tried to grab attention by flying asylum-seekers from Texas to Democratic states like Massachusetts and California, a policy that critics deride as a publicity stunt.

All the Republicans are seeking to hammer Biden over immigration, with polls showing about 60% of all voters disapprove of his policies.