Organized crime experts have criticized President Donald Trump's order to designate multiple Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, arguing that the designation will do little to combat criminal networks. Some have also pointed to an unintended consequence: prosecuting citizens who are unknowingly involved in cartel activity.
"The concern is that this could open the door to both criminal prosecutions and immigration consequences for a wide range of everyday people, organizations, and businesses on both sides of the border that might find themselves inadvertently caught up in the framework of providing material support to terrorist groups," Stephanie Brewer, director for Mexico at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told Insight Crime.
