Arizona does good work in catching human smugglers
WASHINGTON - The federal government should follow Arizona’s lead in following the money to catch the ruthless human traffickers who smuggle illegal immigrants across the border, says a federal report released Thursday.
The report, by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, says U.S. Immigration and Customs would do well to adopt the investigative tools used in Arizona to track the money wired to smugglers from immigrants’ families.
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Goddard, testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, urged Congress to provide at least $50 million to double the current funding of the four-state Southwest Border Anti-Money Laundering Alliance. The alliance, made up of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, aims to disrupt the Mexican crime cartels that smuggle drugs across the border and have also seized control of the human-trafficking industry.
“Perhaps the biggest failure of our national debate on border security is that the cartel threat seems to have taken a back seat to discussions about immigration,” Goddard testified. “Yet, if we eliminate the cartel organizations, the ability of large numbers to illegally cross our Southwest border would be dramatically reduced. Very few illegal border crossers would make the trip across the harsh Sonoran Desert without the smuggling cartels who transport them.”
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