WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is proposing a unique way to fund President Donald Trump’s border wall - make a notorious drug kingpin pay for it.

  • Sen. Ted Cruz wants El Chapo to pay for border wall
  • Proposed legislation nicknamed the El Chapo Act 
  • Wants to force notorious criminals to pay for southern border

Cruz’s plan would partly take forfeited funds from convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán and direct the money toward so-called border security assets.

Cruz nicknamed the legislation the El Chapo Act. An attorney for Guzman on Sunday dismissed Cruz's idea to force the notorious criminal help pay for a barrier on the southern border.

"Sen. Cruz surely knows that the government has seized none -- not a penny -- of Mr. Guzman's assets so getting him to pay for the wall is ludicrous," said Guzman's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, in a statement to CNN. "There's a better chance of Mr. Cruz paying for the wall."

Guzman was found guilty of running a criminal enterprise and may end up with a life sentence for leading a drug gang. His sentence came in a federal court in New York last week after a jury found him guilty on all 10 charges, including distributing narcotics internationally, at the end of a nearly three-month long trial that revealed the inner workings of Mexico’s biggest drug gang.

 

 

The U.S. government is seeking $14 billion from El Chapo as part of its prosecution. The political push from Cruz is unlikely to go far in Congress, but it’s capturing attention.

So far, Congress has provided almost $1.4 billion for fencing and physical barriers along the border. President Trump declared a national emergency to build more miles of his wall.

Cruz posted on his website that the bill would use assets the government seizes from not only El Chapo, but other convicted drug lords in order to build the border wall.

"$14 billion will go a long way to secure our southern border and hinder the illegal flow of drugs, weapons and individuals," Cruz said.