By Jorge Antonio Rocha
MEXICO CITY (AA) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged Hispanics living in the US state of Florida on Thursday not to vote for Gov. Ron DeSantis after he launched his bid for the presidency in 2024.
Lopez Obrador addressed DeSantis' presidential ambitions at his daily press conference.
"I also take this opportunity to tell Mr. DeSantis, who yesterday (announced his intention to run), as you can see, I wasn’t wrong that all his politicking over migrants was because he wanted to be the Republican Party’s candidate.”
"And also ask DeSantis, because one day, as they are very hypocritical, they might have migrants working in their service," he added.
The 44-year-old Republican has made immigration a top priority and has adopted hard-right positions on undocumented immigration.
On May 10, DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1718, “to combat the dangerous effects of illegal immigration caused by the federal government’s reckless border policies,” according to his website.
The legislation limits social services for immigrants lacking permanent legal status and bans local governments from contributing money to organizations creating identification cards for undocumented immigrants.
"I hope that Hispanics in Florida wake up and do not give him a single vote, that they do not vote for those who persecute migrants, those who do not respect migrants, because the migrant -- as it says in the Bible -- deserves respect. The Bible says, 'We must respect the stranger,' not mistreat him," said Lopez Obrador.
DeSantis announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday in a live Twitter event after filing his candidacy paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, making him former president Donald Trump's strongest rival for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.