U.S. SENATORS KATIE BRITT, MARSHA BLACKBURN, COLLEAGUES INTRODUCE BILL TO STOP TAXPAYER FUNDING OF HUMAN AND DRUG TRAFFICKERS AWAITING PROSECUTION AND CONVICTION

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 15, 2023 – Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, joined Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in introducing legislation to ensure human and drug traffickers cannot continue to defraud the American taxpayer while they await prosecution and conviction.  The Senators introduced the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Traffickers Act following their recent visit to the Del Rio Sector of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The amount of fentanyl seized in Birmingham alone last year reportedly was enough to kill every single person in the state of Alabama. Additionally, in the first two months of the 2022 school year, Alabama schools had to administer Narcan 15 times because a student had overdosed on an opioid.

“American taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize the monsters who are taking advantage of the Biden Administration’s border crisis to traffic vulnerable people and deadly drugs,” said Senator Britt. “These criminals are causing untold suffering in every corner of our country — stealing lives, destroying families, and devastating communities at record rates. It is time to seal and secure the border and end the incentives and loopholes that are fueling the crisis. I am grateful for Senator Blackburn’s continued leadership on this critical topic.”

“For two years, President Biden’s open border policies have emboldened the cartels and caused human trafficking to grow to a $13 billion industry, with criminal cartels earning up to $14 million each day. Last year alone, law enforcement seized over 14,000 pounds of fentanyl at the border, enough to kill over 3.3 billion people. We cannot continue to incentivize this blatant criminal activity. This legislation ensures that hardworking American taxpayers – already crushed by inflation – are not forced to fund the lifestyles of offenders who are making our country more dangerous,” stated Senator Blackburn. 

“Entire communities are destroyed at the hands of drug and human traffickers, and it’s appalling that some of those very communities’ tax dollars go toward putting up these criminals in government housing,” said Senator Hyde-Smith. “This legislation would ensure that traffickers can’t enjoy such government benefits after they’ve been charged for drug or human trafficking offenses.”

Representative Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) led the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) is also a cosponsor of the Senate bill.

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