El Chapo's lawyers are fighting the drug baron's extradition to America on murder and drug charges on the grounds that he won't get a fair hearing because of Donald Trump.

Attorneys for the former kingpin of the Sinaloa Cartel are using Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants being 'rapists and murderers' as evidence that any trial in the U.S. will be biased.

Mexican and U.S. officials want to have El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman Loera, tried and imprisoned in America because of his track record of escaping from Mexican prisons.

Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, billionaire head of the Sinaloa Cartel, is currently being held in Mexico as authorities try to extradite him to face trial and jail in America

Mexican officials agreed to have El Chapo extradited after he broke out of the country's top security prison twice, though the move could still take months as his lawyers bitterly oppose the move

Guzman, who made billions of dollars smuggling drugs from the east of Mexico into America, was first captured by authorities in 1993 when he was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

However, he was free again in 2001 after bribing prison guards with a reported $2.5million to turn a blind eye as he was wheeled out of jail in a laundry basket.

As part of their appeals, Guzman's attorneys argue that he will be unable to get a fair trial in the U.S. because of anti-Mexican sentiment

It took authorities 13 years to relocate Guzman, who narrowly avoided capture several times, before he was locked away again in 2014.

Despite repeated warnings by U.S. authorities that Mexico did not have the means to hold Guzman he was again thrown into their most secure prison, and freed himself for a second time in 2015.

This time his audacious escape used a mile-long tunnel dug underneath his cell complete with oxygen pipes, lighting and a motorbike mounted on rails to help him get away.

Guzman was recaptured by Mexican marines after a fierce firefight last week and is now facing life behind bars on drug trafficking and murder.

This time Mexican authorities have agreed to have the cartel boss extradited, a move which his lawyers are bitterly resisting.

According to legal experts, the appeals process available to El Chapo means that the move could take a year or more to pull off.

In the meantime he is being held in the same Altiplano jail he escaped from less than 12 months ago, although officials say they are regularly changing his cell in order to complicate escape efforts.

Trump used the issue of Mexican immigration across America's southern border to launch his presidential campaign, which has seen him rise from outside candidate to longstanding frontrunner.

In his first speech, Trump said: 'When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best.

As evidence of nationwide bias, El Chapo's lawyers have submitted comments made by Republican frontrunner Donald Trump that Mexican immigrants are 'rapists and murderers'

While Trump has made comments against Mexican immigrants in general, he has also singled out El Chapo for criticism, and even had to call in the FBI after apparently receiving a threat back

'They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. And some, I assume, are good people.'

Since then, the outspoken billionaire has called out El Chapo by name in several tweets, including one in which he accused the cartel boss of using the border 'like a vacuum cleaner'.

He said El Chapo, along with other cartels, were 'sucking drugs and death right into the U.S.'

Trump was even forced to call the FBI to investigate after a Twtter account purporting to be run by Guzman responded with a threat.

The tweet, originally in Spanish, read: 'Keep f***ing around and I'm going to make you eat your f***ing words.'

El Chapo, who has escaped custody in Mexico twice, was recaptured last week after a meeting with actor Sean Penn inadvertantly led investigators to his secret hideout

Guzman is being held in the same Altiplano jail he escaped from less than 12 months ago, though this time authorities say they are moving him from cell to cell to make attempts to free him harder

El Chapo was recaptured after six months on the run during which he met with actor Sean Penn who interviewed him for Rolling Stone magazine.

While Penn has consistently denied having anything to do with Guzman's arrest, Mexican officials said that the meeting - in October last year - helped lead them to the crime baron.

The meeting, allegedly set up because El Chapo was looking for actors to play him in a film about his life, was brokered by actress Kate del Castillo.

El Chapo and Castillo exchanged hundreds of fiery texts in September last year to organize a meeting with the actor as they planned to make a Narcos-style movie about his life.