DeSantis Says Florida Willing to Finance, Organize Border Wall Construction

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has offered to provide workers and state resources to assist in finishing the construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico. At the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on April 1, DeSantis stated that the wall is essential to ensure that border security is enforced regardless of the political administration in power. DeSantis is concerned that the federal government may turn against political rivals, and he feels that the wall would be a bulwark to prevent that from happening.

Republican critics have accused President Joe Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas of refusing to enforce U.S. border laws on ideological grounds. Meanwhile, illegal immigration is at an all-time high along the southern border, reaching unprecedented proportions. President Biden has halted the construction of the border wall begun by his predecessor, Donald Trump. While Congress has already allocated federal funding for the project, Biden’s opposition means that construction has come to a halt, and the materials lie uncompleted along the border.

DeSantis has offered to allow Florida’s resources to be used to complete the project. “Put us in, coach. Come on, Joe, we’ll do it,” he said. He added that Florida has some experience in construction due to the prevalence of severe hurricanes in the state. To illustrate his point, DeSantis cited the example of the repair of the bridge damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022, which would have taken over six months to fix, cutting off Pine Island and Sanibel Island from the mainland if not for the resources provided by his office.