Ted Cruz wants ‘El Chapo’ to pay for Trump’s U.S.-Mexico wall
Sen.
On Tuesday, the Texas Republican introduced a bill that proposes to use $14 billion worth of assets that U.S. prosecutors are looking to seize from former Mexican drug cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo”
He tweeted about it several times in the day using his official Senate account and his personal one.
Under the bill — more precisely, the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order Act, or EL CHAPO Act — the money would come from criminal forfeiture of “drug proceeds and illicit profits” as a result of Guzman’s prosecution in the U.S.
Sen. Cruz’s proposal comes on the heels of a showdown between Democrats and Republicans over President Trump’s warnings that he would allow the government to partly shut down Saturday if a bill that authorized federal spending didn’t include some funds to begin construction of the border wall. Trump moved away from that idea but said he remained committed to the wall, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates the wall could cost some $21.6 billion. And Mexico has repeatedly said it would not pay for the wall, as Trump repeatedly claimed during his campaign.
Enter “El Chapo.”
Once America’s most wanted drug lord, Guzman had made a pair of escapes from Mexican prisons before he was recaptured. On Jan. 19, he was extradited to the U.S. where he is currently jailed at a federal facility in New York.
Guzman awaits prosecution for numerous charges related to drug manufacturing and trafficking, use of firearms, money laundering and running a criminal organization as head of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The size of Guzman’s empire remains to be seen, but some reports have offered clues. In 2014, for example, Forbes reported that Mexican authorities seized a number of his possessions -- including 43 vehicles, 16 houses and four ranches.
Sen. Cruz appears certain that the government can seize $14 billion worth of Guzman’s assets and put it to good use, but it remains unclear how much the U.S. government has seized from the drug kingpin or whether Mexico would allow the U.S. to sell the assets it seizes.
How does the idea of spending $14 billion worth of assets from a drug kingpin sound to the average American? Those who support the construction of a border wall — heck, even some who don’t support the wall — applauded Sen. Cruz’s idea on Twitter.
After the proposal came to light, Guzman’s attorneys told the New York Daily News the captured drug lord has no assets.
"The government is seeking forfeiture of 14 billion dollars but has yet to demonstrate that Mr. Guzman has any assets at all," Guzman’s attorneys told the Daily News. "Additionally, under the Constitution, the government has to prove that someone is guilty of a crime before it can take his property."
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