DeSantis scathes Senate border deal as a ‘farce,’ says D.C. has ‘disdain’ for taxpayers

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis scathed the U.S. Senate’s border security package on Monday, saying it represents the “contempt these people in D.C. have for American taxpayers.”

“You can’t be a country if you don’t maintain control of your own territory,” he said. “To basically say that you only shut the border down once 5,000 people a day come illegally, which is about 2 million a year? That’s basically legalizing illegal immigration.”

The governor also slammed the additional tens of billions being sent to other countries like Ukraine, which totals far more than the $20 billion in border security for the latest package.

“I just think the whole thing is a farce,” DeSantis said. “The fact of the matter is the president has the authority to secure the country’s border. You don’t need a new piece of legislation to do that, just do it.”

“It will not solve a problem. It will just exacerbate the problem even further,” he said. “I don’t think it likely has much of a chance, but, you know, you never know with the folks that we’ve got in Washington D.C. now.”

Florida’s GOP senators and representatives reject Senate border deal: ‘Reads like a parody’

The bill totals $118 billion and includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $20 billion for the U.S. border, $14 billion for Israel, $10 billion for Gaza and billions more for other regions.

Sen. Rick Scott slammed the bill after Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said under the proposal, “the border never closes.”

“This is not a border security bill,” Scott said.

Murphy said that the legislation creates a “brand new right to legal representation for all immigrants,” citing legal representation troubles for those impacted by the Trump administration’s prior travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries.

“Not allowed to close the border, but YOU are now paying for lawyers to represent illegal aliens unlawfully crossing the border,” Scott said. “That’s how this bill uses your tax dollars.”

Sen. Marco Rubio denounced it as well, calling it an “easy NO.”

“It reads like a parody of an actual border security bill,” Rubio said.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., shot the bill down, saying it’s dead on arrival if it clears the Senate and reaches the House.