Ted Cruz Urges Passing Of 'El Chapo Act' To Make Drug Lord Pay For Border Wall Following Verdict

The video above is from April 26, 2017 when the "El Chapo Act" was first introduced.

AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) - On the heels of the U.S. federal conviction of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman for his role as a Mexican drug kingpin, Texas Senator Ted Cruz is introducing a bill that he thinks will fund the controversial border wall.

In short, Senator Cruz believes El Chapo should pay for it.

Guzman was found guilty on Tuesday on all 10 counts in his drug trafficking trial.

"In sum, the jury found that Guzman led the Sinaloa cartel, one of the largest and most dangerous drug cartels in the world, and that he is responsible for violence, including murders, and the smuggling of massive amounts of narcotics into the United States over decades," U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said. "This conviction, we expect, will bring a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. It is a sentence from which there is no escape and no return."

Following the news of the verdict, Cruz urged the passing of his "El Chapo Act." The bill states that any money forfeited to the U.S. government due to the criminal prosecution of Guzman and other drug lords would go into funding border security and into completing the border wall.

"America's justice system prevailed today in convicting Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka El Chapo, on all 10 counts. U.S. prosecutors are seeking $14 billion in drug profits and other assets from El Chapo which should go towards funding our wall to #SecureOurBorder," Cruz tweeted.

Texas Wesleyan Political Science professor, Dr. Michelle Payne said it isn't a far fetched idea, adding, "

We do that at the state level, we do that at the municipal level, I don't know why we couldn't do that at the federal level. The government is allowed to do that there are laws allowing for asset forfeiture and this is a case for asset forfeiture."

The border wall has been the topic of discussion in Washington D.C. as President Donald Trump made it one of his priorities during his term. The government shut down in late December and through January as Republicans and Democrats worked to find a solution to fund the $5 billion wall.
Currently, a new deal by congress offers him about 1.4 billion.

Advocates of Cruz's bill say it will help bridge the gap in funding.

Dr. Payne went on to say, "The question will be do we need $14 billion for a wall, do we need it for border security, do we need it to stem drug trafficking in the United States? I think it's a conversation Congress will be willing to have."

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