U.S. Senators File Bill Targeting Mexican Cartels with Sanctions Similar to Terrorist Designation

Two U.S. Senators filed a bill that would target Mexican cartels and other transnational criminal organizations through financial, criminal, and immigration sanctions. The sanctions are similar to the ones they would face if they were designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) by the State Department.

Senator Ted Cruz (R) from Texas announced that he and Sen. Tom Cotton (R) from Arkansas introduced the Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act. The proposed bill comes days after President Donald J. Trump said he would hold off on designating certain Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations following a meeting by his staff with Mexican counterparts.

Another key item in the bill requires the U.S. President submit to Congress the FBI findings of the November 4 attack that killed nine members of a U.S. family. Once submitted, the question of designation would be raised again.

The new bill would impose a series of sanctions on “the most significant” criminal organizations including:

– Barring organization members and their immediate families from admission to the United States.

– Freezing of their assets in the U.S.

– Seeking civil and criminal penalties against individuals that provide material assistance or resources to the organization (cartel).

In March, U.S. Congressmen Chip Roy (R-TX) and Mark Green (R-TN) filed a bill directing the U.S. Department of State to designate a specific group of cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. According to Roy, certain cartels like the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, the Reynosa faction of the Gulf Cartel, and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion were targeted “because of their particularly violent actions and intentional strategies to affect the political system. These cartels push for an anarchic form of government which allows them to skirt laws and push their terrorist model without any legal ramifications.”

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

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