Issue Position: Border Security

Issue Position

Too many Arizonans live in fear in their own communities, afraid of the reach of organized drug cartels and human traffickers. While drugs are smuggled north, guns and money flow south, fueling a war just across our border. Cartel violence has spilled across our border, evidence by murders in Arizona's rural communities and Phoenix now carrying the dubious distinction of "Kidnapping Capitol of the U.S." This crisis is complex, and will not be solved by one person or one tactic. It will take the cooperation of federal, state, and local law enforcement to secure our border. Finally, true border security will not be complete until Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform.

What I've Done About It: I've been working to stop human trafficking from my first day in the legislature. Partnering with Attorney General Goddard, I've worked to eliminate the use of "drop houses" in our communities, and fought for stronger penalties for traffickers. This year, I sponsored a bill to make it a crime to purchase weapons with a false identity and deliver them to a foreign country. To keep violent gang members off of our streets, I also sponsored a bill to impose tougher penalties for criminals who use deadly weapons in the commission of crimes when they were already prohibited from possessing such weapons.

What I'll Do As Attorney General: These violent drug cartels will not go away without a fight. From day one, I will bring together federal, state, and local agencies, to martial the resources we need to take the fight to the people who are doing the most damage to our state's safety, and economic prosperity.

My first priority will be to cut off the cartels' funding sources. Attorney General Goddard has made great strides in this area, most notably the recent $94 million settlement against Western Union. I will make full use of the tools granted by that case to future Attorneys General to seize wire payments suspected of going to drug cartels. Cases like the Western Union case are a product of cooperation with Attorneys General in other states and I will seek out any opportunity to encourage similar cooperation on border issues. Finally, I will continue to attack the cartels' human trafficking and gun smuggling operations, which are the most direct threat posed by the border.

"I am committed to working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to multiply our resources and combat this crisis; our security and our economy depend on it." - David Lujan

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