EAGLE PASS, TEXAS - JUNE 26: Republican presidential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference on the banks of the Rio Grande on June 26, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. Gov. DeSantis visited the border along the Rio Grande andRon DeSantis, the Florida governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, visited the Texas-Mexico border Monday to announce an immigration platform that seeks to challenge former President Donald Trump’s claim to the issue.
DeSantis did not go out of his way to mention Trump in Eagle Pass, but when reporters asked how his proposals — including building a southern border wall — differ from the former president’s, DeSantis noted how little of the wall had been built and said he was surprised to learn that more people had been deported under President Barack Obama than Trump.
But DeSantis said his plan was "more aggressive" than anything Trump has proposed when it came to deputizing local officials to police the border.Gov. Greg Abbott signed a number of "critical" border security bills at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon. DeSantis drew about 150 people to a local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall, where he spoke near large posters reading "No excuses, secure our border, build the wall, stop the invasion."
"Of course you use deadly force," DeSantis said. "Would you let somebody just break into your house and do you harm? No. And I can tell you, in Texas they wouldn’t do that. Try that in Texas."