Luján Leads Colleagues in Calling on Trump Administration to Crack Down on U.S. Firearms Flowing to Latin American Drug Cartels

Administration’s Designation of 8 Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations Unlocks New Tools to Crack Down on Southbound Arms Trafficking  

Over 200,000 American Firearms Flow into Mexico Every Year, Fueling Gang Violence and Drug and Human Trafficking 

Washington, D.C – U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), along with U.S. Representatives Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), led 14 of their colleagues—including U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.)—in urging the Trump administration to use its recent designation of Latin American cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) to take aggressive action to stop the illegal trafficking of American firearms across the Southern Border.

In a letter addressed to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the lawmakers called for a coordinated federal response to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands of American firearms that arm violent drug cartels, fuel lawlessness along the Southern Border, and bring drugs into communities across the United States. 

“We were pleased that President Trump agreed to address the outflow of hundreds of thousands of American-made firearms across the southern border when he initially postponed the implementation of tariffs on our ally Mexico. Accordingly, we urge you to utilize the FTO designation to take aggressive action to stem the flow of American guns to the cartels,” the Members wrote. 

Anywhere between 200,000 and 500,000 American firearms are smuggled across U.S. borders into Mexico every year, arming Latin American criminal organizations that have used them to undermine domestic law enforcement and assert control over fentanyl and human trafficking operations back into the United States. 

“The new FTO designation for these cartels provides additional legal tools to bolster interagency coordination, disrupt their financial networks, and impose stricter penalties on those who provide material support to these criminal enterprises. Specifically, under current statute, it is unlawful to knowingly provide material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization and those who do so can be fined or imprisoned for up to 20 years,” the Members continued. 

The members urged the administration to effectively and strategically employ the full suite of legal options this new designation enables and offered their assistance to empower it to specifically address the “Iron River” of American firearms that are fueling violence and destruction in communities across the United States and Mexico. 

“We hope that you move swiftly and use these new legal authorities to combat southbound arms trafficking. We stand ready to assist in this effort in any way we can, including through legislation that expands your programmatic authorities to address this critical issue,” the Member concluded.  

In addition to Senators Luján and Bennet and Representatives Goldman and Menendez, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), along with U.S. Representatives Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), J. Luis Correa (D-Calif.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Timothy Kennedy (D-N.Y.), and Nellie Pou (D-N.J.).

Read the letter here or below: 

Dear Secretary Noem, Secretary Rubio, and Attorney General Bondi: 

We write to you today regarding the Trump Administration’s recent designation of eight Latin American cartels and gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), a move aimed at addressing the growing harms these organizations are causing in the United States. As you know, the primary source of strength and control that these criminal organizations exert over the U.S./Mexico border stems from one source: American firearms. We were pleased that President Trump agreed to address the outflow of hundreds of thousands of American-made firearms across the southern border when he initially postponed the implementation of tariffs on our ally Mexico. Accordingly, we urge you to utilize the FTO designation to take aggressive action to stem the flow of American guns to the cartels.  

It is a well-established fact that the overwhelming majority of the weapons used by Latin American cartels are manufactured in the United States. In fact, anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 are smuggled into Mexico every single year and a whopping 70 percent of firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico are traced to the U.S. Alarmingly, although Mexico has just a single gun store in the entire country, it still endures approximately 30,000 firearm related deaths every year. This steady supply of weapons coming in from the north has allowed these criminal organizations to gain control over fentanyl and human trafficking across the border and undermine Mexican law enforcement. 

Put simply, if we do not stop the flow of American-made guns across the southern border to Mexico, we cannot stop the flow of fentanyl into our country over that same border.  

The new FTO designation for these cartels provides additional legal tools to bolster interagency coordination, disrupt their financial networks, and impose stricter penalties on those who provide material support to these criminal enterprises. Specifically, under current statute, it is unlawful to knowingly provide material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization and those who do so can be fined or imprisoned for up to 20 years. Individuals and entities that provide weapons, funds, equipment, or other tangible support to designated terrorist organizations can face serious federal prosecution if found liable.   

To leverage this designation most effectively, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of State (DOS) must take immediate steps to crack down on the “Iron River” of illegal arms flowing into Mexico by taking the following actions: 

• Increasing interagency cooperation to track, target, and dismantle smuggling rings that facilitate weapons trafficking across the Mexican border.  
• Expanding inspections at border crossings to intercept vehicles carrying firearms, related munitions, and other contraband into Mexico.  
• Increasing law enforcement efforts against straw purchasers and firearm dealers that knowingly provide material support to smugglers.  
• Strengthening our intelligence-sharing with Mexican authorities and trusted partners to target and disrupt arms traffickers and their networks. 

Given that this issue has been a key topic of discussion between President Trump and President Sheinbaum of Mexico – which has resulted in the U.S. government agreeing to work together to stop the flow of firearms into Mexico – we hope that you move swiftly and use these new legal authorities to combat southbound arms trafficking. We stand ready to assist in this effort in any way we can, including through legislation that expands your programmatic authorities to address this critical issue.  

Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to continuing to work with you on this issue. 

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