Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed Wednesday to declare a national emergency over drug cartels at the U.S.-Mexico border at the start of his administration during an interview with Fox News.
DeSantis recently visited the border and said his potential administration would consider the use of “deadly force” by border officials against drug smugglers and “drop” cartel members. DeSantis told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum he will declare a “national emergency” if he is sworn in as president January 20, 2025.
“All options are on the table to defend the American people,” the Florida governor said. “People are dying by the tens of thousands because of the fentanyl trafficked in, and yet we talk a lot about the porous border. And it is very porous and it’s sad and there’s vast expansions where there’s no wall, no barrier. We’re gonna obviously build a wall and do that. But what I’ve seen in my trips down there, and I’ve taken a number of them, the cartels will actually cut through the good part of the border wall, like a blow torch or a saw, they have backpacks on. They run in the drugs.”
The governor said cartel members bringing in fentanyl will be “stone cold dead.” He said the cartels “controlling” the border has led to the need for a national emergency. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: DeSantis Campaign To Release Video Previewing Border Security Policy Announcement)
“We’re gonna declare a national emergency on day one. We will mobilize all the available assets and Martha, it’s not just at the border where the cartels are crossing. We’re gonna have Maritime operations because what you have is these precursor chemicals are being shipped in to Mexico. The cartels then take the chemicals, they create the fentanyl product and then they move it into the United States and it kills people in every community across this country. So, we’re gonna do a full spectrum in order to finally put this issue to rest.”
Border Patrol agents seized more than 98,000 pounds of drugs in fiscal year 2022, and roughly 47,000 pounds of drugs between October and May 2022, according to federal data. It is 50 times more powerful than heroin and is the most common source of drug overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The governor announced his plan to secure the border this week, vowing to detain illegal migrants until their court dates and reinstate the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy to require migrants to await in Mexico until their court dates. He also disclosed his plan of allowing U.S. maritime authorities to stop the drug influx from overseas if Mexico does not assist.
In September, the governor sent around 50 illegal migrants to the upscale Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and others to Sacramento, California.