President Trump’s call for the State Department to start the process of designating certain cartels as global terrorists and foreign terrorist organizations could give his administration more power to impose economic penalties, travel restrictions and potentially even take military action inside foreign nations.
In the executive order he issued on Monday, Mr. Trump named two gangs in particular that operate inside the United States: the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran MS-13. Using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the government could take additional steps to disrupt the financial networks of the gangs.
While MS-13 has been active in the country for decades, Tren de Aragua has had a growing presence in the country in recent years, coinciding with an influx of Venezuelans coming to the United States for refuge.
It is up to the State Department to decide which organizations to tag as foreign terrorist organizations, a decision it makes after consulting with other agencies in the federal government, which can take months. Mr. Trump’s order gave just 14 days for State to make a recommendation.
The department typically gives the label to groups with ideological objectives, while drug cartels and gangs have financial motivations.
Previously, Mr. Trump has indicated he wants to declare certain Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, as a way to apply maximum pressure on the country to rein in its dangerous drug trade. On Monday, as he signed the executive order in the Oval Office, he said Mexico will probably be unhappy with this step.