From left: U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, stands next to Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a campaign stop in Eagle Pass on Monday., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
“What we’re saying is no excuses on this,” DeSantis said of his broader platform. “Get the job done. Make it happen. We don’t want hollow rhetoric. We don’t want empty promises.” DeSantis’ platform includes many proposals that already have wide support among Republicans, like boosting Border Patrol pay and reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, that required asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their applications are pending. The platform also calls for an end to birthright citizenship, something Trump campaigned on in 2016 to much controversy.
Abbott did not join DeSantis in Eagle Pass. A spokesperson for Abbott, Renae Eze, said he was focused on solving the current impasse over property-tax relief within the Legislature. DeSantis is not the first 2024 contender to tour the border. Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, came to the region in April, joined by U.S. Rep.DeSantis repeatedly expressed solidarity with Texans who are dealing with illegal immigration, noting that he has twice sent Florida law enforcement to aid border-security efforts. And he touted his headline-grabbing decision to send about 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard last year.