Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent on Thursday his fourth letter to the Biden administration on the humanitarian crisis at the border, this one urging the designation of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
The Republican governor’s letter to President Joe Biden and border czar Vice President Kamala Harris included a background document detailing how these drug cartels meet the 3-part test required for the designation.
“As governor of Texas, I urge you to take immediate action to combat the dangerous and deadly Mexican drug cartels,” the letter reads. “These cartels bring terror into our communities. They smuggle narcotics and weapons into the United States to fund their illegal enterprises.
“They force women and children into human and sex trafficking — enriching themselves on the misery and enslavement of immigrants. They murder innocent people, including women and children. These Mexican drug cartels are foreign terrorist organizations, and it is time for the federal government to designate them as such.”
Abbott announced he has yet to hear from President Biden or VP Harris on any of his first 3 letters sent to the administration on the border crisis.
“This is the fourth letter that Gov. Abbott has sent to the Biden administration regarding the humanitarian crisis at the southern border,” a press release read. “The questions and concerns addressed in the previous letters have thus far gone unanswered by President Biden and Vice President Harris.”
A foreign terrorist organization designation would open up new avenues to stop the scourge of drugs and human trafficking at the border, Abbott wrote.
“Providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization is a federal crime of extraterritorial jurisdiction, punishable in some cases by life imprisonment,” Abbott wrote. “Criminal sentences are significantly longer for drug traffickers who fund foreign terrorist organizations.
“Any alien who provides material support to a foreign terrorist organization, or who serves as a member of one, is statutorily inadmissible to the United States. Further, a financial institution can be made to freeze all assets of a foreign terrorist organization.”
Abbott finished with a rebuke of the Mexican drug cartels fueling “ongoing crisis at the border.”
“Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken, in consultation with Attorney General [Merrick] Garland and [Treasury] Secretary Janet Yellen, should designate the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations,” Abbott’s lead concluded. “The sooner they get it done, the sooner America can secure the border and protect Americans from these deadly cartels.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, has proposed the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act in Congress, echoing Abbott’s call to action aimed at the White House.
Source: Newmax
