House Republicans plan to introduce a bill that would officially designate several major Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), legislation that would make President Donald Trump’s executive order more permanent.
The Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act calls for labeling the Sinaloa Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, the Cartel Del Noreste and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion as FTOs, according to legislation obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The legislation would additionally require the State Department to issue a report to Congress on these criminal organizations and any other cartels that meet the standard of an FTO designation.
“The cartels have spent the last four years exploiting our border to profit off of misery, fear, and death,” Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, the sponsor of the bill, said in a statement provided to the DCNF.
“Now that their open-borders cash flow is about to dry up, they have resorted to planting live explosives on the Texas border and shooting at Border Patrol agents in broad daylight,” Roy continued. “They are terrorists and we need to treat them like it.”
An FTO designation by the State Department — which has so far been primarily applied to Islamic terrorist groups that pose a significant threat to American security — would trigger U.S. authorization to freeze financial assets, prohibit entry into the country and prosecute members for supporting terrorism. Supporters of such an action argue it would better enable American capabilities against cartel organizations that have wreaked havoc along the U.S.-Mexico border.
While the idea of labeling drug cartels as FTOs has floated around American political circles for years, the proposal has turned into reality under the second Trump administration.
President Donald Trump previously teased the idea in 2019 after a Mormon community was massacred at the hands of cartel members, but he ultimately scrapped the plan at the behest of then-Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who argued it infringed on Mexican sovereignty. However, on his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump signed an executive order labeling cartels as terrorists  — with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum this time pledging to coordinate efforts.
Trump’s large-scale deportation operation and hawkish immigration enforcement agenda has so far proven successful in lowering encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, organized crime syndicates remain an enormous threat on the southern border, enriched by the unprecedented immigration crisis that was sparked under the Biden administration.
Cartels pull in roughly $14 million per day by smuggling migrants, illicit drugs and other contraband across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Roy’s office.
As recently as Monday, Border Patrol agents were shot while on patrol in Fronton, Texas, according to Customs and Border Protection. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is heavily involved in securing the Texas-Mexican border, confirmed those shots came from cartel members.
Supporters of Roy’s bill spoke on the need for FTO designations to be codified into law, removing the ability of another administration down the road to simply undo Trump’s order.
“It is all too easy for one president to the next to completely dismantle our national security efforts,” Greg Sindlear, CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “We applaud all members of Congress seeking to immediately codify the excellent executive orders President Trump signed to strengthen border security and protect American communities.”
“With this legislation enacted, it will not be so easy for any incoming president to undo such important work,” Sindlear continued.
The legislation additionally requires the State Department to label any other cartel that meets the criteria as an FTO no later than 30 days after their report to Congress. It also does not allow the FTO designation as a basis for asylum — a move that will prevent foreign nationals in Mexico or elsewhere from abusing the law by making frivolous claims of asylum with U.S. immigration authorities.
In addition to Roy, there are 13 House Republican co-sponsors of the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act.
“President Trump’s day-one order to designate them as FTOs and give U.S. authorities more tools to take them down was the right move, but Congress needs to ensure it can’t be undone by a future administration,” Roy said. “Equally as important, my bill affirms that foreign nationals cannot use an FTO designation as grounds for asylum.”
“Let’s take this bill up, put it on President Trump’s desk, and take these terrorist criminals down once and for all,” Roy stated.
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