Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) reintroduced a bill Friday that, if passed, would require the State Department to designate certain Mexican cartels “foreign terrorist organizations.” The move comes in response to drug trafficking across the southern border.
The bill, called the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act, seeks to label the Gulf cartel, Cartel del Noreste, the Sinaloa cartel, and the Jalisco New Generation cartel as foreign terrorist organizations. The legislation comes on the heels of the kidnapping of four U.S. citizens and a fentanyl crisis within the United States.
MEXICO’S PRESIDENT MAKES CLEAR HE ISN’T AN ALLY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST FENTANYL
“It’s long past time to designate these cartels as the terrorists they are and give U.S. authorities the tools needed to take them down,” Roy told Fox News.
“That’s why I started pushing the Trump administration for FTO designations during my first few months in Congress, why I introduced this legislation last Congress, and why I’m introducing it again,” he said.
Cartels are responsible for the smuggling of illicit drugs such as fentanyl into the U.S., contributing to the opioid crisis. They also smuggle immigrants across the southern border. Two U.S. citizens were also killed by the cartels during a recent kidnapping.
“They are bold enough to kidnap and kill foreign nationals in broad daylight; there is no limit to the inhumane methods they will use to achieve their ultimate end: profiting off of human suffering,” Roy said. “This most recent atrocity adds to the already massive human toll, including 72,000 dead Americans from fentanyl poisoning, more than 1,000 dead migrants along our border, and countless human and sex trafficking victims.”
Roy’s legislation has 21 co-sponsors, including Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Lisa McClain (R-MI), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Byron Donalds (R-FL). Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced a companion bill in the Senate this week.
If the bills are enacted, the State Department would need to provide a report on the cartels. The designation would also give the federal government the power it needs to crack down on the cartels, such as the ability to stifle financial support for the cartels because it is illegal for a U.S. citizen to support FTOs.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was supportive of using the designation on the cartels because the fentanyl crisis was purposely caused by the cartels. However, the designation could strain the U.S.’s relationship with Mexico.
Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — People’s Army are already considered foreign terrorist organizations.
