T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets attendees at his Tuesday campaign event at Legends American Grill in Marshalltown. The Republican Presidential hopeful placed focus on the upcoming caucus and immigration.

During a campaign visit on Tuesday at Legends American Grill in Marshalltown, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he intends to focus on obtaining caucus commitment in Iowa to turn his numbers around, adding it’s less about the polls and more about the Jan. 15 event.

“We’ve already collected tens of thousands of people to caucus for us,” he said.

The 2024 Republican presidential candidate said more people are getting added to the commitment and he plans on bringing an army of people for the day of the caucus.

“It’s going to be a big wave of people,” he said. “I don’t know if that shows in the polls or not.”

Knowing immigration is significant to Marshalltown, DeSantis said the border crisis is going to stop. He plans on doing that with a military presence at the southern border, ending “catch and release,” not allowing false asylum claims, building the border wall and holding the Mexican cartels accountable.

The cartels will be treated as terrorist organizations because of their invasion into the country and killing American citizens, DeSantis said. Declaring the border a national emergency is something he plans on doing on the first day of his administration.

“It’s been a problem that’s been going on for a long time,” DeSantis said. “It needs to stop, and I’ll be the President to get the job done.”

He said the 8 million illegal immigrants who have crossed into the country during President Joe Biden’s administration will be sent to their home countries.

“There will be a variety of tools used to do that,” DeSantis said.

His plan is to get Mexico to pay for the wall through charging fees on remittances sent to foreign countries. Such action will raise billions of dollars, DeSantis said.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who accompanied DeSantis, said they will be able to stop the immigration crisis, reverse it and secure the border.

“It’s so important for our nation,” he said. “Three hundred thousand encounters this month in December is projected, 300,000 in November, we’ve had 2 million got-a-ways. We’re going to have something like six to 10 million people who have entered our country through the southern border during the Biden administration. That is an absolute national emergency.”

Upon learning of the recent Toledo Fire Department nativity issue in which the display was removed from the lawn and then replaced with a secular display added to the traditional manger scene, he said religious liberty needs to be restored in America.

“There’s a strain of thinking that somehow anytime there’s any acknowledgement of God, that that’s somehow an establishment of religion,” DeSantis said. “That’s not true. That’s not what the Founding Fathers believed. Our whole country is based on the idea that our rights are endowed by God. You see it in the Declaration of Independence. We absolutely can acknowledge that as free people in our country. We pledge allegiance to the flag ‘one nation under God.’ ‘In God we trust’ is on our currency. If a local government wants to have a nativity scene, that’s totally fine for them to do it. . . . We shouldn’t try to suppress people’s religious expression in this country.”

DeSantis opened the floor to questions right away from roughly 70 people attending his event. When asked about energy independence, he said it is important for the United States not to rely on other countries for oil before delving into other aspects of the economy.

“We also understand food security is national security,” DeSantis said. “It’s not just part of the economy. I don’t want China buying farmland in this country. We have the best agriculture in the world. We need to get the government off of the back of family farms. The EPA should not be going on your farm because there’s a puddle there.”

Someone asked DeSantis how more Republicans can get elected to Congress in order to accomplish conservative goals. He responded by telling the crowd about the Republican super majority in Florida by doing a good job and working with the candidates.

“We’ll be working on all those races, and I think if we perform well, we have a chance to pick up five or six Senate seats,” DeSantis said.

He did take a shot at former President Donald Trump by saying candidates who have received his endorsement have underperformed. The Democrats, DeSantis said, have a playbook which they use to acquire seats, regardless of poor showing.

“That can’t happen in 2024,” he said. “If we let that happen, basically the Democrats are going to end up running the whole show. They’re going to do a lot of damage if that’s the case.

Having humility in the executive branch of government is important, DeSantis said. To get policies to stick, allies are essential in the legislative branch.

An attendee said he was amazed that candidates are not required to participate in debates, and said DeSantis is the obvious choice for president. The governor said while he did appreciate some of Trump’s policies, a leader needs to be able to look back and admit their mistakes.

“He should have to go on the debate stage and have to articulate what’s the way forward . . . He would actually be older than Biden was in 2021 if he gets elected in 2025. So, he should stand on the stage for two hours and show you. I remember the 2020 election. He lost the first debate to Biden,” DeSantis said.

Another attendee asked about the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and how her policies coincide with what is happening in Florida. DeSantis said he was happy to receive her support.

“The fact she got behind me should show you I am the type of leader that will do you proud,” he said.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.