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Last week, Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) reintroduced the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act, which would direct the State Department to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).

The bill would direct the Secretary of State to designate the Gulf Cartel, the Cartel Del Noreste, the Cartel de Sinaloa, and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion as FTOs and codify President Trump’s Executive Order into law.

An FTO designation would provide the federal government with more authorities to combat these cartels, including additional investigative and intelligence resources, the ability to apply stiffer penalties on FTO affiliates, revoking visas of FTO members in the U.S., and freezing FTO assets in U.S. financial institutions.

Congressman Roy said the following about the bill: “The cartels have spent the last four years exploiting our border to profit off of misery, fear, and death. 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. They are terrorists, and we need to treat them like it. 

That’s why I started pushing the Trump administration for FTO designations during my first few months in Congress back in 2019. 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. 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.”

Congressman Roy is proud to be joined by Reps. Ryan Zinke (MT-1), Andy Biggs (AZ-5), Michael Cloud (TX-27), Clay Higgins (LA-3), Pat Fallon (TX-4), Josh Brecheen (OK-2), Paul Gosar (AZ-9), Jodey Arrington (TX-19), Andy Ogles (TN-5), Randy Weber (TX-14), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Keith Self (TX-3), and Roger Williams (TX-25) in introducing this legislation.

Comments from supporting organizations:

Texas Public Policy Foundation

“It is all too easy for one president to the next to completely dismantle our national security efforts. 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.”

-Greg Sindlear, Chief Executive Officer for the Texas Public Policy Foundation

America First Policy Institute

“America First Policy Institute proudly supports Congressional border security efforts to address an imminent threat to the homeland – transnational criminal organizations. Securing the homeland for the American people should be the top priority for Congress, and this effort is an important first step to empowering law enforcement efforts and holding TCOs accountable.”

-Chad Wolf, Executive Director, Chief Strategy Officer and Chair for the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration

The full text of the legislation is available here.

Author: Press Release

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