State Dept officially designates Mexican cartels, MS-13, Tren de Aragua as Global Terrorist Organizations following Trump order

The US Department of State, on Wednesday, officially designated Mexican cartels and violent foreign gangs, such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13, as Global Terrorist Organizations, according to federal register notice. The action coincides with the Trump administration's nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.

According to a notice in accordance with an executive order from President Donald Trump, the United States has declared the following criminal groups as Global Terrorist Organizations: Tren de Aragua gang (Venezuelan), MS-13 gang (El Salvadoran), Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the notice that these groups pose a serious risk to US national security, foreign policy, and economic interests, writing that they "have committed or have attempted to commit, pose a significant risk of committing, or have participated in training to commit acts of terrorism that threaten the security of United States nationals or the national security."

The terrorism designation notice was formally be published in the Federal Register on Thursday.

The designation of a group as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) is intended to disrupt its finances by imposing sanctions on its members and associates, including travel bans and asset freezes, Reuters reported. The extent of the designation disclosed on Wednesday was not immediately apparent.

President Trump signed an executive order on January 20 designating the Mexican cartels and other foreign criminal enterprises as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.

The president wrote that the cartels "have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere" and have "flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs." Trump said the cartels control nearly all of the illegal traffic across the southern border "through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force."

"The Cartels' activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere. Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States," the president said in the executive order.

The cartels, who have a history of committing severe acts of violence against migrants, including innocent children, and extorting them, authorize the majority of migrants who unlawfully enter the United States through the southern border, according to reports.

In regards to the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs, President Trump said these groups pose similar threats as the cartels, saying that their "campaigns of violence and terror in the United States and internationally" are extraordinarily violent and vicious.

Both of the terrorist gangs have been targeted for arrest and deportation by Trump's federal immigration authorities in recent weeks.