Republicans — including Ron DeSantis and Sen. Mike Lee — call for changes to immigration policy

Republicans continue to focus on immigration, seen as a weak spot for President Joe Biden, with Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis releasing his immigration policy Monday, and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana writing in support of a House bill dealing with immigration in a Fox News op-ed Tuesday.

The legislation, called Secure the Border Act, was passed in the House but has not been taken up by the Senate. Lee and Rosendale say the bill would “prevent abuse” of the nation’s asylum system and “end the exploitation of unaccompanied immigrant children.”

It also requires employers to use the E-verify system and would require the Department of Homeland Security to continue construction of a wall along the nation’s southern border.

The two Republicans say that more than 6.3 million migrants have illegally crossed the border under the Biden administration.

“States like Montana and Utah have seen an unprecedented flood of drugs and crime under President Biden’s leadership,” the op-ed says while referencing Biden’s border policies.

It also says that the Drug Enforcement Administration seized over 5.8 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming last year, and that overdose deaths are on the rise.

Lee and Rosendale called for a return to “Trump-era” immigration policies, while DeSantis didn’t mention Donald Trump in his policy paper or during his speech in El Paso but he called for many of the same policies championed by the former president.

DeSantis attacks both parties on immigration policy

DeSantis, the current Republican governor of Florida, said both parties were to blame for problems with immigration, as he unveiled his immigration policy during a visit to the border city of Eagle Pass in Texas on Monday.

“I have listened to people in D.C. for years and years and years, going back decades — Republicans and Democrats — always chirping about this yet never actually bringing the issue to a conclusion,” DeSantis told an audience of nearly 100 people in El Paso, per CBS News. “What we’re saying is no excuses on this.”

His phrasing says “he will follow through on promises that Trump never carried out,” as The Washington Post reported.

“Every border town is under assault: sidewalks filled with illegals from around the world, emergency rooms overflowing, ranches and homes overrun, and public safety shredded because Joe Biden has refused to meet his most basic responsibility of upholding American sovereignty,” DeSantis’ policy states.

DeSantis, who lags behind Trump in the Republican presidential primary polls, took direct shots at Biden’s immigration policy.

An Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from May found that only 31% of Americans approved of Biden’s performance on gun policy and immigration.

His immigration platform, tag-lined “Stop the Invasion: No excuses,” describes El Paso, another border town in Texas, as “a quiet, orderly town” before it experienced an influx of migrants.

His platform proposes reinstating a series of policies introduced and proposed during the Trump administration, including ending “catch and release,” a program where migrants are released from detention while they await their court hearing; building the border wall; and challenging courts to reevaluate “birthright citizenship” under the 14th Amendment.

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Trump’s campaign reacts to DeSantis’ immigration policies

Trump took to Truth Social after the Florida governor published his immigration platform.

“He is a failed candidate, whose sole purpose in making the trip was to reiterate the fact that he would do all of the things done by me in creating the strongest Border, by far, in U.S. history.”

Trump's campaign’s Twitter account also accused DeSantis of “copying and pasting” policies.

“Ron DeSantis praised President Trump for his immigration and border policies that helped keep our country safe,” the post said. “Now DeSantis is copying and pasting President Trump’s Agenda47 policy plan because he doesn’t have an original idea of his own.”

The tweet included a clip of DeSantis’ appearance on Fox News where he supported Trump’s stances, such as building a wall and instating the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which asks asylum-seeking migrants to remain in Mexico until their immigration court date in the U.S.

“President Trump instituted a number of policies, and it dramatically reduced the number of people that were coming across the border illegally,” he said in the clip.

On Saturday, Trump spoke about his immigration policies at the Faith and Freedom Coalition convention in Georgia.

“Using federal law and section 212-F of the Immigration and Nationality Act, I will order my government to deny entry to all communists and all Marxists,” he said, earning him cheers. “Those who come to and join our country must love our country. We want them to love our country.”

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