Rep. Tony Gonzales Introduces Legislation to Designate Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) introduced his first bill of the 119th Congress, the Security First Act, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025.

The legislation would require the federal government to consider designating Mexican drug cartels and Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). Additionally, it would allocate more grant funding for state and local law enforcement agencies in border regions to enhance border security operations.

“It’s plain and simple: bad policies embolden cartels, fuel humanitarian crises, and put innocent Americans in harm’s way. No one wins when lucrative practices are playing out time and time again at our borders, and the Biden administration’s failed national security agenda over the past four years, unfortunately, put the South and West Texans I serve in Congress in the thick of it. We rely on a secure border as a part of our way of life, cross-border trade, commerce, and tourism are the lifeblood of our communities,” said Gonzales. “The criminals who exploited our open borders are not going to go quietly into the night; we have to get ahead of them and strike while the iron is hot. The Security First Act moves the ball forward on designating Mexican drug cartels and lethal gangs like Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations and gives our law enforcement agencies more tools to combat illicit activity at our borders.” 

An FTO designation would make affiliated criminal members inadmissible to the United States, enhance the ability to cut off the cartels’ financial resources, and enable law enforcement to combat their operations on a more targeted basis. 

Gonzales represents the 23rd District of Texas, which covers more than 800 miles of the southern border — the largest border district in the country, bigger than 30 states.