A senator has publicly questioned the Trump Administration’s decision to allow 17 family members of cartel leaders in the United States last week.
The agreement involves Ovidio Guzmán Lopez who was extradited to the U.S. in 2023 and the Trump administration, according to the Associated Press.
The announcement of this deal left Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer with questions.
“So, Donald Trump, Mr. Tough on the Border, Don’t let Criminals in, has just allowed 17 relatives of El Chapo, one of the most notorious cartel drug dealers, into America,” Schumer said in a video posted on X. “What the hell is going on Donald Trump? First, you say you want to be tough on the border, and then you let El Chapo’s relatives in? Let’s not forget who El Chapo is Donald Trump. He was head of the Sinaloa Cartel. One of the worst cartels that poisoned American children with their drugs for decades, and you’re letting his relatives into the country? What kind of message does that send?”
Schumer added that the deal is “dangerous” and asked if the cartel offered him a “gold-plated helicopter.”
“What did they promise you?,” Schumer said. “Maybe you got a presidential helicopter from them? Who knows? For Donald Trump to get away with something like this would be outrageous.”
Guzmán Lopez was one of the brothers left to run the Sinaloa Cartel after Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was imprisoned in the U.S., reported the Associated Press.
Mexican Security Secretary Oma García Harfuch in a radio interview with independent journalist Luis Chaparro said that “it was clear to Mexican authorities that” a negotiation between Guzmán López and the U.S. government was had in order for the family to return.
“It is evident that his family is going to the U.S. because of a negotiation or an offer that the Department of Justice is giving him,” Garcia Harfuch said according to the Associated Press.
On the same day as Guzmán Lopez‘s family’s return, the Attorney General’s Office announced that it was charging a number of top cartel leaders with “narcoterrorism” for the first time since the Trump administration designated a number of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in January.
“Let me be direct, to the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, you are no longer the hunters, you are the hunted,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California told the Associated Press. “You will be betrayed by your friends, you will be hounded by your enemies, and you will ultimately find yourself and your face here in a courtroom in the Southern District of California.”
