Governor Greg Abbott is, once again, using the border to test the bounds of his authority. Last month, Abbott designated Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization with roots in a Venezuelan prison, as a foreign terrorist organization.
Normally, the U.S. State Department designates all Foreign Terrorist Organizations, using criteria established under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. But it’s not Abbott’s first time straying beyond the norms of his state government leadership role. In September 2022, he declared Mexican drug cartels to be foreign terrorist organizations. Other than Abbott, no governor appears to have taken such radical steps, experts say.
Jason Blazakis, a former director of the State Department’s Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office told the Texas Observer that Abbott’s move might introduce confusion abroad. “It makes it convoluted for our partners who might be watching what’s happening in the United States, and they might conflate an action taken by the State of Texas as a mandate by the federal government when it’s not,” Blazakis said.
