To avoid a potential government shutdown over President Donald Trump’s border wall funding, Texas Senator Ted Cruz proposed that the wall be funded by money forfeited from the criminal prosecution of drug kingpins such as the drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
US prosecutors are currently trying to seize over $14 billion worth of assets and profits from Guzman’s criminal operations, which included several drug smuggling rings.
“Fourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will keep Americans safe and hinder the illegal flow of drugs, weapons, and individuals across our southern border,” Cruz said.
Fourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will help keep Americans safe:
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 25, 2017
Cruz named the bill he proposed, the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order Act, or The EL CHAPO act for short. The Texas senator also created a petition to help gather support for his bill, emphasizing that El Chapo’s money should be used to fund the wall, instead of taxpayers’ money.
Build the wall and make El Chapo pay for it
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 25, 2017
Fellow Republican Newt Gingrich was quick to support Cruz’s bill; he called the bill’s intention a “grand and fitting irony.”
Following Ted Cruz’s announcement, Gingrich tweeted, “Ted Cruz is exactly right to focus on confiscating Mexican drug money to pay for the wall. What a grand and fitting irony.”
Guzman, former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, is now awaiting federal trial after being arrested and extradited to the US for trying to smuggle 500 tons of cocaine into the US through the southern border.