Cooper: Arizona needs a cartel prosecutor for Attorney General

Border security is the number one issue facing our state and our country today.

Violent cartels control our southern border on the Mexican side, and they get rich by smuggling humans and drugs into this country.

Record numbers of migrants cross the border illegally every month. More than 2 million migrants were apprehended by Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border last year. Another 400,000 or more were able to sneak into the country and avoid apprehension.

Many of those migrants pose a threat to our public safety or national security. For instance, since just October of last year, 242 migrants encountered by Customs and Border Protection appeared on the U.S. government’s terrorism watch list.

For the cartels, human smuggling and drug smuggling go hand in hand. This is why we are now seeing twice as much fentanyl in this country. Almost 300 people die from fentanyl poisoning every single day, and fentanyl has now become the number one killer of young Americans.

The cartels do not care about the health and safety of American citizens any more than they care about the health and safety of the migrants they smuggle into the country. Every day, women are sexually abused, children are trafficked, and individuals are injured or die in the rugged terrain that lies between the United States’ ports of entry.

The humanitarian crisis and national security crisis that exists at our southern border is a direct result of the Biden Administration’s failed border policies.

I know what needs to be done to solve this border crisis. I was the Border Security Section Chief for the United States Attorney’s Office under the Trump Administration. I led a team of people who day in and day out were enforcing our nation’s border laws. I personally prosecuted coyotes, gang members, cartels, and even terrorists.

I conducted wiretap investigations and took down cartel leaders. I learned firsthand that the Mexican cartels are violent terrorist organizations. The National Border Patrol Council has endorsed me in this race because they know that I have the knowledge and skills to begin securing our southern border on day one.

As your next Attorney General,

I will bring with me this experience of keeping America safe. I promise you that I will fight to take down the cartels as fiercely as I fight to hold the Biden Administration accountable for its failure to protect our southern border.

Arizona needs a cartel prosecutor as the chief law enforcement officer in the state because border security is national security.

I would be honored to have your vote on Aug. 2, 2022. Learn more at www.LacyCooperforAZ.com.

About the author

Lacy Cooper is a Republican primary candidate for Arizona Attorney General.