The Dangerous Sweep of Trump’s Plan to Designate Cartels as Terrorist Organizations
The Dangerous Sweep of Trump’s Plan to Designate Cartels as Terrorist Organizations is featured in Just Security and is by Rachel Levinson-Waldman.
In this examination, the article dives into President Trump’s executive order targeting international cartels through foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) designations, presenting a nuanced and critical analysis that challenges conventional national security paradigms. The piece unpacks the broad, potentially devastating sweep of this policy. It reveals how a seemingly straightforward terrorism designation could fundamentally transform the landscape of border security, migration, and drug enforcement.
The analysis exposes the intricate legal and humanitarian implications that extend far beyond traditional counterterrorism strategies. By dissecting the potential consequences, the article illuminates how such a designation could criminalize asylum seekers’ survival mechanisms, threaten humanitarian organizations, and disproportionately impact migrant and minority communities. Moreover, it suggests that the policy provides a rhetorical justification for border militarization that could have far-reaching and unintended consequences.
Critically, the work underscores that existing legal authorities, such as the Kingpin Act, already provide robust mechanisms for addressing narcotics trafficking. The article challenges the proposed approach by highlighting research that suggests demand reduction, rather than militarization, as the most effective strategy for combating drug-related challenges. By presenting a comprehensive overview of the potential ramifications, the piece raises a compelling question: How might this policy fundamentally reshape our understanding of national security, migration, and counterterrorism efforts?
