Trump goes to war with Mexico by designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations

The Trump administration plans to designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations to enhance drug trafficking efforts.

Trump administration has announced plans to “designate the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations” as part of its intensified effort to combat drug trafficking along the US-Mexico border.

President Donald Trump throws pens used to sign executive orders to the crowd during an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (AP)

During his inauguration speech on Monday, President Donald Trump stressed the administration’s commitment to eliminating criminal networks through the full power of federal and state law enforcement. He cited the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which enables the government to detain foreigners from nations at war with or invading the United States, as a cornerstone of the new strategy.

While the terrorism designations stop short of declaring war, a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation prohibits individuals from providing “material support” to the designated group and enables victims of terrorism to seek compensation through lawsuits.

Asylum surge feared as Trump labels Mexico cartels terrorists

Plus, the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) label allows the US Treasury to freeze a group's assets. Trump’s executive order will apply both FTO and SDGT designations to Mexican cartels and other criminal organizations, including El Salvador’s MS-13 and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, per Fox News.

While FTO and SDGT are different form other sanctions in the sense that they do not allow any free speech or humanitarian aid. The policy can also bring some challenges to the immigration matters. Critics inside the GOP and some immigration hawks have warned that the designation could lead to more asylum requests.

“If you designate them as terrorists, you’ve just created millions of more legal asylum seekers,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) told Fox News in 2023.

Notably, the Clinton administration’s campaign in Colombia targeted both communist insurgents and drug traffickers under the theory of “narco-terrorism.” A similar strategy unfolded in Afghanistan, where US forces bombed drug labs to undermine Taliban revenues.

However, a 2022 Colombian report found that the war on drugs exacerbated its civil conflict, with both sides exploiting the drug trade.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, however, has voiced, “We will work together, but we will not be subordinate.”

“Mexico is a free, sovereign, independent country. And we do not accept interference in our country.”