EAGLE PASS, Texas — 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis debuted an extensive plan to regain control of the U.S.-Mexico border and vowed to go beyond anything that former President Donald Trump had done.

DeSantis announced a comprehensive strategy titled "No Excuses," comprised of four pillars: Stop the invasion, Build the wall, Hold cartels accountable, and work with states to enforce the law.

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“For decades, leaders from both parties have produced empty promises on border security, and now it is time to act to stop the invasion once and for all.,” DeSantis said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “As president, I will declare a national emergency on day one and will not rest until we build the wall, shut down illegal entry, and win the war against the drug cartels. No excuses. We will get it done.”  

In a town hall-style setting where voters sat just a few feet from DeSantis, the Florida governor outlined his plan to voters and said he would go beyond what Trump had promised and failed to deliver.

The first bullet point on the plan to stop the "invasion" was to end the catch-and-release policy, short for how the United States releases into the country immigrants after they have come across the border illegally.

Trump left the White House having failed to keep one of his biggest campaign promises: to build 1,000 miles of border wall for $4 billion and get Mexico to pay for it.

During the Trump era, 738 miles of wall, technology, roads, and lighting were funded for $15.5 billion and, of that, more than 450 miles had been installed on the U.S.-Mexico border since Trump took office in January 2017.

DeSantis cited 600 miles of "open" border and said he would focus wall-building efforts on those areas.

Third, DeSantis will declare Mexican drug cartels to be transnational criminal organizations and authorize sanctions on all syndicates involved in the smuggling of people, drugs, and guns.

A DeSantis White House would enhance penalties for those who smuggle fentanyl, as well as those American citizens who work with the cartels. 

DeSantis would allow states to uphold their Article I authority to defend themselves an invasion, further broadening the steps that they can take to respond to the situation at the southern border, where more than 5 million people have illegally crossed since 2021.

Sanctuary zones would face penalties for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration laws and lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.

DeSantis teased a preview of the plan Sunday evening, posting a video to Twitter that outlined the border, cartel, wall, and invasion pillars.

DeSantis' stalwart approach was an effort to "get to the right of Trump," according to Republican political consultant in Texas, Luke Macias.

Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican operative in Texas and partner at Austin-based public affairs firm Steinhauser Strategies, agreed that DeSantis is trying to position himself as the better border security candidate.

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DeSantis vowed in an interview published Monday that his "No. 1" priority as president would be to "shut down" the border on his first day in office, declare a national emergency, and "build a border wall."

Texas has spent more than $4 billion on border security efforts over the past two years and is quick to tout the number of illegal immigrants that state police have arrested and pounds of drugs seized from smugglers. But those accomplishments have not resolved the crisis.