Bipartisan bill tackles cartel recruitment of US teens

Vasquez, Lamborn want to use proceeds of property seized from criminals to fund awareness campaign in schools within 100 miles of border with Mexico

Julian Resendiz

Updated: Apr 18, 2024 / 05:34 PM CDT

This is the spot off West Paisano Drive in El Paos where a car carrying U.S. teens and several undocumented migrants crashed, resulting in several fatalities.

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Republican from Colorado and a Democrat from New Mexico have filed a bill to educate American high school and middle school students about the dangers of getting involved in drug and human smuggling.

H.R. 8058 is prompted by several documented instances of U.S. teens dying while driving cars loaded with undocumented migrants at high speed and cases involving minors attempting to transport drugs from border cities to larger cities like Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“I’ve heard directly from families, educators and law enforcement about the predatory recruitment of minors to facilitate illegal smuggling of drugs and people,” said bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico. “Every student deserves a childhood free from manipulation and fear. This bill provides the education needed in our border communities to counter predatory smugglers and cartel activity.”

The bill also known as the No More Narcos Act calls for law enforcement agencies, educators and community organizers to carry out an educational campaign targeting middle and high school students in learning centers located within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Funded with cash and property seizures from criminals, the campaign is to inform the students about the perils associated with working for the cartels – violent transnational criminal organizations engaged in a multitude of illicit activities. Border Report last December documented how Mexican cartel members have come across the border to collect from or intimidate American students who took money but failed to deliver migrants from the border wall to stash houses.

Police in Sunland Park, N.M., one of the nation’s busiest communities when it comes to migrant smuggling, as well as a New Mexico teachers’ union support the bill.

“New Mexico’s students are our most precious resource. As educators, we should be doing everything in our power to protect them from the harmful influence of criminal organizations,” said Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers in New Mexico.

Co-sponsor U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado, said Mexican cartels have increased their activities and presence not just on the border but also in communities across the United States. But he said border communities like Sunland Park – north of the border from Juarez, Mexico – are on the front lines of the problem.