In an exclusive interview with The Floridian, Governor Ron DeSantis praised President Trump's efforts targeting Venezuelan drug cartels and his response to the recent shooting of two National Guardsmen.
Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has taken aggressive steps in response to rising domestic and international conflicts. The U.S. military has expanded across the Caribbean and has used kinetic force against alleged drug trafficking operations conducted by Venezuela.
Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, the administration has been cracking down on illegal immigration. The administration has utilized ICE agents to conduct mass deportations, reduce annual refugee admissions, and attempt to remove birthright citizenship. Last Wednesday, an Afghan national was accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House, leaving one dead.
In response to these attacks, President Trump took to social media and announced a permanent pause on migration “from all Third World Countries." Following Trump’s announcement, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) additionally announced the re-examination of green cards issued to foreign nationals from 19 separate countries.
“Do you support the President’s call to halt immigration in the U.S., and not just visas from individuals from Afghanistan, but just overall, immigrants?” Gov. DeSantis was asked by Publisher Javier Manjarres.
DeSantis responded by affirming that the president is upholding the rule of law.
“I think that he’s absolutely right to do what he’s doing. You cannot bring people into this country who hate our country. Or who are incompatible culturally and are not able to be assimilated," said DeSantis.
The Governor pivoted to point out the Biden administration's mistakes and questioned the United States’ admittance of foreign nationals.
“Why would we, after doing blood and treasure to depose the Taliban? Why would we be importing a bunch of people from that culture to the United…," added DeSantis. "It just doesn’t make sense. I mean, we’ve given a lot, so that they have a chance to improve. But I think it’s just a different culture.”
DeSantis continues by questioning fellow Republican's views on immigration policy as a whole.
"But this is an important point because you have some of these Republicans [who] are like, “Oh, shut the border. We've got to stop illegals.” Which fine we all agree with, but they’re like, “As long as it’s legal, you know that’s all we want.” But, I mean think about it. Dumping people from Somalia in the country, is that something we should be doing? Is that positive for the American families and Americans? Is bringing in a million, a million and a half people a year? You know, how does that affect housing, education, all these other things? So, I think illegal immigration, yeah, we don’t want to do it."
The Governor expresses his concerns for American employment and livelihood as a result of the current immigration apparatus.
"But when you’re talking about legal program, you know, H1-B. They’re doing it to undercut American workers. And I don’t know what the genesis of the program initially was, but you have tech workers, American tech workers, that will train an H1-B to replace them. And H1-B gets paid less, and the H1-B is indentured to the company. So, if you’re working for one tech company, you can’t just go to another one. So, there’s all kinds of problems with that and then how it’s worked. So I think there’s a huge amount of problems. I think the president is right to be strong, and I think the question is, is there going to be good follow-through and implementation, and are you going to have liberal judges try to stop it?"]
Governor DeSantis proceeds to voice his dissent on the rallies taking place in cities such as Dearborn, Michigan. These rallies have been said to contain harmful rhetoric towards the country.
"...you know, you’ll see these rallies in like Dearborn, Michigan, where they’re chanting death to America. And I’m just thinking to myself, well, wait a minute. You came over here, probably from a pretty crappy country," said DeSantis. "You get to grow up in the most successful country ever, and you’re out there saying death to America? No, actually, if you want death to America, go back over there and then say it all you want. But if you’re coming here, that’s a mistaken policy. To be importing people that really hate this country. So, yeah, I think the whole thing needs an overhaul."
Manjarres stays on topic by questioning the severity of the individuals taking part in rallies.
"Should those people chanting that be considered or looked upon as maybe enemy combatants?"
When asked if individuals chanting "Death to America" should be categorized as "enemy combatants," DeSantis reminded Floridians that, upon the naturalization process, certain requirements must be met.
"Well, here’s the thing. If you are a naturalized citizen. Like an Ilhan Omar, and you have immigration from..[inaudible]. You know, you have to check allegiance to the United States. You know, there’s certain things you have to represent when you’re applying for naturalization. If they breach those requirements, they are absolutely subject to denaturalization and deportation. And I think that should be done, in those situations where the law warrants it."
Manjarres pivots from questions regarding the shooting and the implications of immigration moving forward towards the use of military actions within the Caribbean.
“Kind of sticking to immigration, Venezuela and Colombia, big issue, a lot of socialists around there, they have socialist Maduro, they have Petro in Colombia. Huge community in South Florida, especially ‘Westonzuela’ and Doral, as you know.
“I do. I think the drug trade and the traffic into the United States, I think is qualitatively different than it was, say, 30 years ago. Now, I’m not saying it’s fine to run things like cocaine, but when you start talking about running fentanyl into this country, you are killing people in large numbers," said DeSantis when asked about supporting President Trump's targeting of drug cartels both in the water and on land.
WATCH THE VIDEO
