DeSantis Campaign Press Release - Ron DeSantis: "We are going to bring the [border] issue to a conclusion."

DES MOINES, Iowa – During a CNN Republican Presidential Town Hall tonight, Ron DeSantis responded to a voter's question about border security:

VOTER: "Thank you for your service. By the way, welcome to Des Moines. Yeah. My question is sort of a two-part question. Um, what are some things different you can do to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border, as well as what actions can the Border Patrol take that are new?

DESANTIS: "David, thanks for joining the National Guard. It's important. We've got a lot of great people in Florida... and I think it's going to be a very rewarding service for you. What can you do? Well, one, you can change the policy remain in Mexico, you have people that are abusing the asylum, they come make a bogus asylum claim, and then they get a sheet of paper, say, go ahead into the interior of our country and come back in two years for a court date. That is not a deterrent. So we will not entertain those claims. They can wait, I think we need to reform the law so that the claims don't even happen. But we're not letting people in, no way. We're gonna also empower states to enforce immigration law. People are coming across the Rio Grande, Texas should be able to deport and send them back. That's a force multiplier for us. I am going to build the border wall. And I remember in 2016, I went to the rallies with Donald Trump. He said he was going to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it. And that didn't happen. And why didn't it happen? Well, one, I think he got distracted. And he didn't do it on day one. But two, he didn't utilize the levers of power that he had. So how do you get Mexico to pay for it? Well, they're not just going to give us money. Although Trump said at the time, they would do that, because people like Jake would say, wait a minute, how are you going to be able to do this? "Oh, they're going to pay for it. They're going to pay for it? No, they didn't do it." Here's what you do. You impose fees on the remittances that workers send back to foreign countries, Mexico, Central America, really all over the world, you'd raise billions of dollars, we'll put it into constructing the border wall. And here's the thing. We as Republicans, probably 99% blame Biden for 8 million people coming in illegally. It's been bad for the country. And I do too. But here's the thing. If Trump had built the border wall, it would have been very difficult for Biden to bring in all those many people. That's why you want a wall. It's a physical fact of life, that even an open-border president would not be able to get around so I will get the job done. The talk is cheap. And I'm sick of Republicans always using this issue every election cycle, to try to get donations and to try to tell the people if you do it. We are going to bring the issue to a conclusion."

Watch HERE.