Photo credit: Dave Davidson – Prezography.com
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a bill this week based on a radical idea: getting El Chapo to fund the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
El Chapo (Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán) is a Mexican drug lord. He is awaiting federal trial for moving almost 500 pounds of cocaine across the border, among other charges. He is also responsible for a legendary prison break in 2015 from a Mexican prison. The prison break included a mile long tunnel and motorcycles.
Prosecutors in the United States are seeking $14 billion dollars in forfeiture of assets and illicit profits from El Chapo. Estimates for building the U.S.-Mexico border wall are between $21 and $25 billion dollars.
Ted Cruz thinks that since El Chapo smuggled drugs across the border, his forfeited assets might as well help pay for the border wall. The Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act would allocate the money from El Chapo to building the border wall.
The official bill’s description reads:
“To reserve any amounts forfeited to the United States Government as a result of the criminal prosecution of Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (commonly known as “El Chapo”) for the completion of the wall along the Southern border.”
Cruz also tweeted out:
The US government is seeking the criminal forfeiture of $14B+ in drug proceeds & illicit profits from El Chapo. https://t.co/5SElazzr9X pic.twitter.com/wkIp10NEik
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 25, 2017
El Chapo is considered one of the most powerful drug lords of all time by the U.S. government. He was head of the Sinaloa cartel. The bill that would use his money to fund the border wall comes at a time when paying for this wall threatens to shut the government down.
Our Southern border’s lack of security allows trafficking of all kinds. Not only are drugs trafficked frequently into the United States, but people are as well. The Southern border remains one of the best ways to smuggle human beings into the country as trafficking victims.