In a recent speech at Eagle Pass, TX, Florida Governor and GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis vowed to change the rules of engagement at the border so that those defending the border can use deadly force to defend it.
Speaking on the matter, DeSantis compared people crossing the border illegally to burglars or other criminals breaking into a house, asking why deadly force can be used to defend a home but not the border. In his words: “We’re going to create adequate rules of engagement, if somebody were breaking into your house to do something bad you would respond with force. Yet why don’t we do that at the southern border?”
Continuing, he vowed this his change to the rules of engagement would lead to the cartel operatives trying to bring drugs across the border getting shot, saying, “So if the cartels are cutting through the border wall trying to run product into this country, they’re going to end up stone-cold dead as a result of that bad decision.”
He then added that stopping them in that manner would stop them from coming over for good, as it would mean getting caught would end in death rather than a slap on the wrist. He said: “If you drop a couple of these cartel operatives, they’ll stop coming.”
Watch DeSantis here:
🔥 DESANTIS: “If the cartels are cutting through the border wall trying to run product into this country, they’re going to end up STONE COLD DEAD as a result of that bad decision.” pic.twitter.com/te4JvtK1xo
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 26, 2023
Commenting on the post, many people cheered DeSantis but others suggested that his Establishment GOP backers would stop him from actually halting the flood of humanity rolling across the border. One, for example, noted that the Chamber of Commerce Republicans would be upset about the dearth of cheap labor, saying, “But how will the Chamber of Commerce get cheap labor?”
Another noted that the plan would be hindered by the majority of drugs coming through ports rather than across the border, saying, “They are coming through ports where they are being caught and drugs confiscated.”
In any case, the “shoot the smugglers” plan was part of DeSantis’ new border strategy that he was highlighting during a visit to Texas. During the visit, he also promised to build the wall and “get the job done,” a not-so-subtle attack on Trump.
DeSantis said: “On Jan. 20, 2025, we will be on a mission to stop the invasion at our southern border to fight the drug cartels that are poisoning our citizenry, to build the border wall, and to reestablish the sovereignty of this nation. We are done with promises. We are done with slogans. Now is the time for action. No excuses. We will get the job done.”
Left unsaid was how he, if elected, plans on ramming significant policy changes through Congress. He has been generally able to push things through the friendly Florida legislature, but hasn’t explained how he plans on convincing the Chamber of Commerce crowd to support cutting off the pipeline from Mexico of cheap migrant labor or, even if he rammed that through a GOP-controlled Congress, how he’d get the woke, pro-CRT military to start firing on the cartels.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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