DeSantis says border authorities should use ‘deadly force’ against drug smugglers, ‘drop’ cartel members

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said southern border authorities should be able to use lethal force against drug smugglers cutting through the wall during a press conference in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday.

DeSantis, a 2024 GOP presidential contender, visited the southern border, where he spoke with local residents and law enforcement dealing with drug smuggling and a surge illegal immigration, to reveal his security plan he would implement should he be elected president. During his visit, DeSantis revealed that border authorities should “drop” members of the cartels to stop drug smuggling. (RELATED: Gavin Newsom Says He Met To ‘Compare Notes’ With Texas Sheriff On Potentially Prosecuting DeSantis)

Governor DeSantis Holds a Press Conference in Eagle Pass, Texas https://t.co/dnA6iCUcdw

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 26, 2023

“We will use all levers at our disposal to win the fight. If somebody is breaking through the border wall, which they are doing in other parts, demonstrating hostile or hostile action, you have to be able to meet that with the appropriate use of force,” DeSantis said.

“I don’t see how you can just let them do that and carve through a wall on sovereign U.S. territory with a backpack full of drugs. Of course you use deadly force. I mean, would you let somebody just break into your house and do you harm? No, I can tell you in Texas they wouldn’t let you do that,” DeSantis said.

Border Patrol agents seized more than 98,000 pounds of drugs in fiscal year 2022, and roughly 47,000 pounds of drugs between October 2022 and May, according to federal data.

“Why is our country any different? And these guys will bring like blow torches, they have a huge thing that the cartels are doing and how embarrassing is it, the places we have a wall, I was there the other day in Arizona, they’re repairing the wall because they busted through the wall,” DeSantis said.

“I mean that is unacceptable and I’ll tell ya, if you drop a couple of these cartel operatives trying to do that, you’re not gonna have to worry about that anymore, they will not mess. They’re only messing with it because they know they can get away with it,” DeSantis said.

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