While Border Patrol has reported particularly high encounters with illegal immigrants under the Biden administration, including those on the terror watch list, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)'s presidential campaign has announced a preview of how he will handle the crisis at the southern border. On Monday morning, DeSantis will hold an event at Eagle Pass, Texas, where he will announce his plan to secure the border. The event will take place after a border ride-along that the governor will take part in on Sunday night.
In a statement for Townhall, DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo called out President Joe Biden's failures, while also speaking to DeSantis' promises. "Joe Biden’s open border policies have destroyed our sovereignty, and Ron DeSantis will not rest until it is restored. He will stop the invasion and secure the border once and for all, and there will be no excuses," Romeo said.
Even before such an announcement about Monday's event to unveil the "first formal policy of his campaign," DeSantis has been clear about his mission to secure the southern border for some time now, both as governor and in the month since his campaign officially kicked off.
Speaking from Iowa not long after officially announcing his campaign, DeSantis said that his "will finally be the administration" to shut down illegal immigration, going on to promise: "We are going to build a border wall, we’re going to end mass migration, and we are going to hold the Mexican drug cartels accountable."
DESANTIS: “We will finally be the administration” to SHUT DOWN illegal immigration.
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 1, 2023
"We are going to build a border wall, we’re going to end mass migration, and we are going to hold the Mexican drug cartels accountable” pic.twitter.com/QaemJDHuEm
During his second inaugural address as governor in January, DeSantis called out the federal government for how it "recklessly facilitated open borders: making a mockery of the rule of law, allowing massive amounts of narcotics to infest our states, importing criminal aliens, and green lighting the flow of millions of illegal aliens into our country, burdening communities and taxpayers throughout the land."
Border Patrol agents have arrested illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes such as homicide, assault, burglary, and sexual conduct with a minor.
As the Center for Immigration Studies' Andrew R. Arthur revealed in early May, "Biden’s Border Fiasco Costing Local Taxpayers Billions." While Arthur focuses on the burden faced by sanctuary cities such as New York City, he takes a look at the total numbers as well. The numbers are staggering:
According to Fox News, there were 599,000 “got-aways” — aliens who entered illegally and evaded overwhelmed Border Patrol agents — in FY 2022, and 389,155 in FY 2021, for 988,155 in total. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told Congress on March 16 that there had been “at least” 385,000 more got-aways in FY 2023, which brings the total to 1,373,155.
Got-aways traditionally have been almost all single adults, which would add $252,660,520 to the daily total bill, or $92,221,089,800 on an annual basis, for a daily total of municipal costs — including releases and got-aways — of $521,397,090, or a yearly total of $190,309,937,850.
Monday's announcement also comes as DeSantis has not been speaking out about the crisis at the southern border from the campaign trail, but also as he seeks to work with orders to do so.
On Thursday, as Fox News reported, DeSantis announced a national coalition of 90 sheriffs to protect Americans from the crisis at the southern border, including from states such as Florida, California, Colorado, South Dakota, Maryland, Illinois, New York, Arizona, and Oregon.
The Fox News report mentioned a statement of support from the law enforcement officers lamenting that the federal government has "failed in its responsibilities to secure our nation's borders," which also cites the record 2.4 million migrant encounters in FY 2022, and more than 1.6 million encountered so far in FY 23.
DeSantis also made headlines earlier this month for his trip to the southern border in Arizona, where he met with sheriffs from border states for a roundtable discussion to secure the border.
His commitment to securing the border was also a major talking point reinforced at the Road to Majority conference on Friday, put on by the Faith & Freedom Coalition. As DeSantis reminded the crowd, he "will finally be the president to bring the issue of our open southern border to a conclusion," pointing out that he's "heard about this," and that complaints "about the open border" is something that's gone on "for decades."
"Now is the time to act on day one. We declare a national emergency we mobilize all assets including the military," DeSantis assured the crowd.