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DeSantis to unveil border policy in Texas on Monday

by Brett Samuels - 06/23/23 2:00 PM ET

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will announce his presidential campaign’s border policy next Monday, marking his first major policy platform to be unveiled since he announced his bid for the 2024 Republican nomination.

DeSantis will roll out his plan to secure the border at an event in Eagle Pass, Texas, his campaign said. The governor will spend Sunday night participating in a ride-along tour of the border.

“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,” Andrew Romeo, a DeSantis campaign spokesman, said in a statement.

DeSantis has been at the center of fights over immigration policy even as governor. He has drawn criticism from the left, and even from some Republicans, over his decision to fly migrants who crossed the southern border to liberal states like Massachusetts and California.

The governor last month signed a law that bolstered his migrant relocation program and limited social services available to immigrants who do not have permanent legal status.

DeSantis last week announced a coalition of 90 sheriffs backing the governor and his focus on immigration.

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The Florida governor has made border security and illegal immigration a key theme of the early weeks of his 2024 campaign, vowing to complete the border wall promised by former President Trump and blaming President Biden for a worsening “mass-migration” crisis.

DeSantis has consistently run second behind Trump in national GOP primary polls.

A CNN poll released this week showed 47 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning registered voters said Trump was their first choice in the primary, down from 53 percent in a May poll. But Trump still leads by 21 percentage points over DeSantis, who is running second in the poll at 26 percent support.

Tags immigration Ron DeSantis Texas US-Mexico border