In a scene from a 2018 movie “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” a U.S. president decides to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups because it will provide new tools for U.S. national security to mitigate growing violence.
Designating violent Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations is an alluring prospect for several reasons. The recent kidnapping and murder of two American citizens by the Gulf Cartel has once again made the issue prominent, including for policymakers and members of Congress.
Just as occurred in the film, there are high-ranking U.S. officials who believe that designating the cartels as terrorist groups will solve the twin national security crises of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The most notable is former U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr.
