DeSantis Voted for Obama-era DACA Amnesty in 2018, Slams Trump for Also Supporting the Immigration Measure

As the border crisis continues,  Gov. Ron DeSantis continues his no-holds-bar presidential campaign against former President Donald Trump, blaming him for the massive influx of illegal aliens that have been flooding the U.S. and for supporty amnesty.

Team DeSantis has released a video excoriating President Trump for allegedly failing or refusing to build a southern border security wall, and "caving" to the Washington, D.C. "Swamp" by approving a plan to "ram through amnesty for 2 million illegal aliens."

During his historic 2016 run for president, Trump promised to "build the wall" and shut down illegal immigration, but during his 2018 State of the Union address before the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress, the former president expressed his support for a compromised plan to help curb the illegal immigration problem he adopted from the Obama Administration.

"A path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants...more than three times more people than the previous administration covered," stated Trump during a heavily edited DeSantis attack ad of the State of the Union address about illegal immigrants.

"Instead of building the wall like he promised, Donald Trump caved to the very Swamp he once denounced — trying to ram through amnesty for 2 million illegal aliens. I will finally stop the invasion and secure our border once and for all," stated DeSantis, who recently said that he would fulfill Trump's promise to build an immigration wall along the southern border.

Instead of building the wall like he promised, Donald Trump caved to the very Swamp he once denounced — trying to ram through amnesty for 2 million illegal aliens.

I will finally stop the invasion and secure our border once and for all. pic.twitter.com/eWDMQAFUIf

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 7, 2024

According to the official National Archive's transcript of the address, Trump was referring to the 1.8 million DACA individuals who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents in laying out his bipartisan "Four Pillars" immigration reform plan.

Trump's plan called for "fully" securing the border with a wall, hiring more first responders, ending the Obama-era "Catch and Release" practice, and ending chain migration.

Here is how the transcript reads:

Here are the four pillars of our plan:

The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age – that covers almost three times more people than the previous administration. Under our plan, those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral character, will be able to become full citizens of the United States.

The second pillar fully secures the border. That means building a wall on the Southern border, and it means hiring more heroes like CJ to keep our communities safe. Crucially, our plan closes the terrible loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country – and it finally ends the dangerous practice of “catch and release.”

The third pillar ends the visa lottery – a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of our people. It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system – one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country.

The fourth and final pillar protects the nuclear family by ending chain migration. Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives. Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children. This vital reform is necessary, not just for our economy, but for our security, and our future.

DeSantis Voted for Obama-era DACA

The comprehensive and bipartisan immigration reform bill Trump openly supported never came to pass. At the time, Trump gave then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan six months to come up with a compromised plan with House Republicans, but his Dream Act of 2018 failed to gain traction with House Freedom Caucus members, and was dead on arrival.

Later that year, Trump backed a more conservative—H.R.4760 - Securing America's Future Act of 2018— better known as the "Goodlatte Bill."

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018

The measure failed in the House by a total vote count 193-231, with 41 Republicans voting against the Trump-supported bill.

Then Congressman Ron DeSantis voted in favor (AYE) of the first Goodlatte immigration reform bill that drastically cut legal immigration levels, but extended the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DeSantis voted against Goodlatte II a week later.

Here is part of the  summary of the Goodlatte Bill:

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise immigrant visa allocation provisions, including family-related visas. A nonimmigrant classification for parents of adult U.S. citizens is created.

The diversity visa program is eliminated.

Annual immigration levels are revised.

The limit on the worldwide level of employment-based immigrants is increased.

Trump went on to implement immigration reform polices that drastically limited illegal immigration into the U.S., policies  that Democrats deemed to be"Draconian."

“Even people that don’t like what Trump says have to admit that the country was safer, more respected, we didn’t have a mass migration crisis, our economy was better, all these things when Trump was in office,” said Senator Marco Rubio in a recent interview with The Floridian. “I think there are a lot of people that are like, no matter what we may feel about what he said about this or that, our lives were better and the country was safer.”

The border crisis is without a doubt the leading issue driving Republican voters this election cycle. Voters are concerned over the current economic state of the country, but the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens, many of them single men from the Middle East, China, and from the Western Hemisphere, appears to have diverted concerns to the national security threat that continues to develop along the southern border with Mexico.