In November, voters in Arizona will have the chance to determine if a drug cartel operating in southern Mexico should be classified as a terrorist organization.
This ballot initiative follows the inability of Arizona Senators to advance similar legislation last year, partly due to a slim Republican majority.
“Arizona is at the forefront of a battle that Washington has largely overlooked. When I was president, we took decisive action. This resolution provides our administration with another means to safeguard our nation, uphold the law, and protect innocent lives,” stated Sen. Steve Montenegro (R) in a press release.
The resolution was introduced after the Trump administration had previously labeled eight drug cartels as terrorist organizations, despite resistance from the Mexican government.
“Those listed as terrorist organizations are subject to financial penalties, and their members are barred from entering the United States. Moreover, supporting these groups is against the law,” Oka explained.
The Arizona vote aims to direct the Department of Homeland Security to “take all necessary actions within its powers to tackle the risks posed by drug cartels.”
Reportedly, families of American victims murdered by cartels have urged the Trump administration to establish “La Linea.”
“Families who have lost loved ones to cartel violence are requesting that the Juarez Cartel, along with its armed faction La Linea, be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. This would place it in the same category as six other Mexican cartels already recognized as such,” the report noted.
“In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, American families affected by cartel violence have called on officials to classify La Linea and the Juarez Cartel as foreign terrorist organizations. As noted in previous reports, the Juarez Cartel was implicated in the tragic deaths of nine American women and children from the LeBaron family near the New Mexico border in November 2019.”
