Sens. Rick Scott and Roger Marshall reintroduced the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act, which would give federal law enforcement additional power to fight back against drug cartels by formally designating them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. There is a significant amount of support for this idea according to a recent Scott Rasmussen Survey (69 percent).
WHY IT MATTERS– Under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the State Department would have the lead working in concert with the U.S. intelligence community to prepare potential designations.
Currently, more than 30 such groups are designated by the State Department, but none operate solely as drug cartels and pursue terrorist violence for ideological and political objectives.
A Rasmussen Reports survey recently revealed:
- 79 percent of likely U.S. voters believe Mexican drug cartels are a serious threat to the United States.
- 16 percent think the cartels are not a serious threat.
- 4 percent are not sure.
The survey also asked if the cartels should be designated as terrorist organizations:
- 69 percent said yes.
- 20 percent said no.
- 10 percent were not sure.
BOTTOM LINE– Most Americans want cartels to be designated as terrorist organizations. Cartels control large sections of the southern border on the Mexican side and facilitate the smuggling of drugs, humans, and illicit cargo across the border.
GO DEEPER–
Rasmussen Reports – 69% Want Terrorist Designation for Mexican Drug Cartels
Americas New Majority Project – 70% believe drug cartels operating at southern border should be designated as terrorist group
Rick Scott – Sens. Rick Scott, Roger Marshall Reintroduce Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act
The survey of 1,017 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on March 9 and 12-13, 2023, by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research.