Keystone Today

David McCormick, U.S. Senate Candidate for Pennsylvania, said the U.S. should designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorists. McCormick made the statement in a post on X on Sept. 23. 

"Secure the border, stop the flow of fentanyl, designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorists and kick the hell out of them," said McCormick. "That’s what common sense looks like."

On Sept. 18, the House Homeland Security Committee Majority published a report titled "Crisis by Design: A Comprehensive Look at the Biden-Harris Administration’s Unprecedented Border Crisis." 

Americans have witnessed "national security, public safety, and humanitarian disaster" at the southern border, according to the report. An estimated 10.2 million immigrants have entered the country in the last four years under the current administration. 

The report notes there are "roughly" 2 million gotaways that Customs and Border Protection were unable to detain.

Due to current policies at the southern border, cartels and criminal groups now control who crosses the border from Mexico, according to the report. 

"It is now nearly impossible to cross without paying them," the report stated. Cartels focus on human smuggling, making a majority of their profit from migrants who pay the cartel to help them cross terrain and find the correct routes to cross the border.

Mexican drug cartels, often identified as Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), pose a significant threat to the U.S., particularly through their technologically advanced criminal enterprises specializing in illicit drug and human smuggling, according to a report from America First Policy Institute.

The cartels, including the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), control territories in Mexico and have expanded their influence into the U.S., with estimates suggesting close to a million members collectively engaged in various illegal activities.

There are pros and cons with designating a cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), according to the Wilson Center. The pros include enhanced legal tools, heightened awareness, military action intelligence, potential for cooperation, and global stigmatization. The cons include potential for escalation, challenges in prosecution, and economic consequences.