Ted Cruz's 'El Chapo' bill targets $14 billion in seized drug lord assets for Trump's border wall

Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced a bold plan this week to take as much as $14 billion seized from cartel kingpins like Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and use it to fund President Trump's border wall.

Republican Cruz introduced the bill, titled "Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order Act," Tuesday to allow the assets forfeited to the U.S. from prosecution of drug lords like the former Sinaloa cartel leader to go toward building a border wall.

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"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 in a news release. "By leveraging any criminally forfeited assets of El Chapo and his ilk, we can offset the wall's cost and make meaningful progress toward achieving President Trump's stated border security objectives."

@SenTedCruz: "The U.S. government is seeking the criminal forfeiture of $14B+ in drug proceeds & illicit profits from El Chapo." @SenTedCruz: "The U.S. government is seeking the criminal forfeiture of $14B+ in drug proceeds & illicit profits from El Chapo." Photo: Twitter/@SenTedCruz Photo: Twitter/@SenTedCruz Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Ted Cruz's 'El Chapo' bill targets $14 billion in seized drug lord assets for Trump's border wall 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

This week, the president said the wall would be an important tool in stopping drugs from "pouring into our country and poisoning our youth."

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While campaigning, Trump regularly said Mexico would pay for the wall. In a tweet Tuesday, Cruz posted an image of Guzman's mugshot in the center of a fake dollar bill that said, "El Chapo will pay for it."

On Sunday, the president tweeted: "Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall."

Despite promises to build a border wall, a poll published earlier this month shows most Texans don't want one.

In a statewide survey conducted by Texas Lyceum, a nonprofit focusing on issues affecting the state, 61 percent of voters said they opposed a border wall as a way of stopping illegal immigration. Thirty-five percent were in favor of the wall and 4 percent did not answer.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5