- Trump has targeted alleged gang members for deportation
- Terrorism designations aim to disrupt cartel finances through sanctions
- Concerns over effects on asylum seekers
WASHINGTON, Feb 19- The United States on Wednesday designated, the Sinaloa Cartel, Tren de Aragua and other drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, according to a Federal Register notice, a move that comes as President Donald Trump steps up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members in the U.S.
The notice issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the groups pose a risk to U.S. national security, foreign policy and economic interests.
The U.S. State Department announced the designation of six Mexican drug cartels as transnational terrorist organizations.
They are the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), United Cartels, Northeast Cartel, Gulf Cartel and the new Familia Michoacana.
The designation will take effect Thursday, after being published in the U.S. Federal Register.
Trump signs executive order to declare Mexican cartels terrorists.
On January 20, President Donald signed an executive order declaring cartels terrorists. The order mandated Rubio to make the necessary and implement the decision within 14 days.
International cartels constitute a threat to national security that goes beyond that posed by traditional organized crime, with activities that include:
1.- convergence between them and a range of extra-hemispheric actors, from organizations designated as foreign terrorists to antagonistic foreign governments.
2.- complex adaptive systems, characteristic of entities dedicated to insurgency and asymmetric warfare; and
3.- infiltration of foreign governments throughout the Western Hemisphere.
The order notes that «the cartels have waged a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries of great importance to our national interests but has also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and bloodthirsty gangs.»
The order also charges that «in certain parts of Mexico, [the cartels] function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling almost every aspect of society.»
In that sense, it determines that «the activities of the cartels threaten the security of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere. Their activities, proximity, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.»