CV NEWS FEED // The U.S. State Department officially designated Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday.
In a statement dated Feb. 6 and released Wednesday, Rubio stated there is “a sufficient basis to find that the relevant circumstances described in section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act” justify designating the eight gangs and cartels as FTOs.
The designated organizations are Tren de Aragua, MS-13, Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, United Cartels, Northeast Cartel, Gulf Cartel, and the Michoacan Family.
The news follows President Donald Trump’s executive order on the first day of his second term vowing to classify cartels as FTOs and “directing the government to use the full power of law enforcement to eliminate gangs,” as CatholicVote previously reported.
The notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has been linked to numerous crimes, including the murder of nursing student Laken Riley.
MS-13, the Satanic gang known for its brutality, has also been tied to violent crimes including drug trafficking, murder, and rape.
As CatholicVote reported, in July 2022, Kayla Hamilton “was brutally raped and murdered inside her Maryland home” by an MS-13 gang member.
Hamilton was just 20 years old.
According to Newsweek: “Mexican groups Sinaloa and Jalisco are both known for their involvement in human and drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border, including the exploitation of immigrants trying to make their way through the Central American country.”
The remaining four organizations are tied to drug trafficking, extortion, and violent assaults on law enforcement and military personnel.
According to the State Department website, the statement bars Americans from providing “material support or resources to a designated FTO” and grants the U.S. government authority to deploy military forces against them.
The order will go into effect Thursday.
National security expert Joseph Humire told Fox News, “This is democracy in action. I think millions of Americans voted for President Trump specifically because of this issue – because of the cartels and the gangs that are infiltrating America, terrorizing communities.”
“Anti-terrorism involves anticipating the actions of terrorists and neutralizing them before they take that action,” he said. “Now what it allows law enforcement, intelligence, and national security apparatus to do is to anticipate the actions of the cartels… and dismantle those networks.”
