National opinion polls show a significant lead for Trump over DeSantis, exceeding 20 percentage points. DeSantis hopes to appeal to the conservative base of the party and draw support away from Trump, who has made illegal immigration a central focus of his presidential campaigns. While DeSantis has been highlighting his record as the governor of Florida during his campaign, he is gradually unveiling national policy initiatives. He mentioned that energy and tax plans are among his upcoming proposals. In his border-security plan, DeSantis proposes ending “catch and release” practices, detaining migrants until their court hearings, denying entry to migrants claiming political asylum at the border, and implementing a tax on remittances from undocumented immigrants to fund the construction of a border wall. He also intends to eliminate “birthright citizenship,” which grants U.S. citizenship to children born in the country to migrant parents, and enable state and local officials to enforce federal immigration laws.
DeSantis pledged to deploy U.S. law enforcement resources along the border, if necessary, to prevent the influx of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States. He stated that he would utilize executive actions whenever possible, without waiting for congressional approval.
Recently, the Biden administration secured a Supreme Court victory, establishing that border states cannot challenge federal enforcement priorities in immigration policy. DeSantis defended his use of private planes to transport migrants from Texas to Democratic-controlled states like California and Massachusetts, asserting that it has been effective and will continue to be utilized.
