The 1798 law with which Trump seeks to declare the Aragua Train and Mexican cartels “terrorists”

As promised this Monday during his inauguration speech in Washington DC, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order to classify Mexican cartels and foreign criminal organizations – such as the Aragua Train– “terrorist organizations.”

It is a law of “foreign enemies”enacted in 1798, and which, together with the declaration of national emergency on the southern border of the United States, pave the way for the Republican to fulfill his electoral promises to carry out the largest campaign of deportations of migrants in history and prevent the passage of migrants and asylum seekers on the border with Mexico.

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“We will begin the process of returning the millions” of “criminal” foreigners “back to where they came from,” the Republican said in front of the legislators, politicians and businessmen from technology companies who were present during his inauguration at the Capitol.

During his presidential campaign, Trump stigmatized migrants who arrived in the United States in recent years, calling them “criminals,” despite the fact that multiple studies have shown that people born abroad break the law at a lower rate than those born in USA.

What law is it about?

The foreign enemies lawenacted in 1798, allows the Government to expel foreigners without due legal process and was used during the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) to create internment camps for citizens of Japanese origin in the United States.

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In his speech, Trump promised to use this law so that his Government “uses all federal and state forces” to eliminate “the presence of foreign gangs and criminal networks that bring devastation to the United States.”

Regarding the border, Trump indicated that he will declare a state of “national emergency” on the southern border to stop the irregular entry of migrants and will restore the policy known as “remain in Mexico”, established during his previous administration, which forced asylum seekers to wait in the neighboring country while their cases were processed.

“I will send troops to the southern border to put an end to the disastrous invasion of the southern border,” said the president, adding that he plans to declare the Mexican cartels “terrorist organizations.”

Trump, in fact, signed this Monday the executive order to classify Mexican cartels and foreign criminal organizations as “terrorist organizations.” The text of the law mentions the Venezuelan criminal group Aragua Train and the Salvadoran gang MS-13 as examples of organizations that should be added to that classification.

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What will happen to these groups?

These groups will become part of a list of organizations – which includes the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda – to which American companies and citizens are prohibited from giving “material support.” “Mexico probably doesn’t want this,” Trump said in the Oval Office after signing the executive order in the Oval Office.

When asked by a reporter if the decision would involve attacking the cartels in Mexican territory, he responded: “It could happen, stranger things have happened.”

Handout/Presidency El Salvador via Gett

“Cartel activity threatens the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere,” states the text of the executive order, which “creates a process by which certain international cartels and other organizations will be designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”

“Other transnational organizations, such as the Tren de Aragua and La Mara Salvatrucha, pose a similar threat to the United States,” the presidential decree adds.

Specifically, regarding the Aragua Train – a criminal group that Trump referred to on multiple occasions during the campaign, in speeches stigmatizing all Venezuelan migrants – his Government will order the deportation of people who are considered “members” of the gang. , according to an official from the transition team in a call with journalists.

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This group, which emerged in a Venezuelan prison and has a presence in several South American countries, was already sanctioned in July of this year by the Treasury Department under the Administration of Democrat Joe Biden.

MS-13, with origins and presence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, has also been sanctioned by the US Treasury since 2012, under the presidency of Barack Obama (2009-2017).

According to what Alexander Drickersen, founder of EAD Global Consulting and former FBI agent and expert in transnational crime, told EFE, the decision to include these groups on the list of terrorist organizations may “very serious penalties” for companies or individuals.

“Material support to these organizations is typified in a law by which an individual or corporation, even if unaware, that provides aid for a purpose associated with terrorism faces very strong penalties: up to 20 years in prison, fines of a quarter million or, in some cases, life imprisonment,” said the expert.

Organized crime in the neighboring country has extended its networks into human trafficking, which has become one of the most lucrative industries for these groups.

In turn, extortion of businesses by criminal groups is “widespread” in Mexico. According to findings from a study published last year by the US Chamber of Commerce, 45% of businesses with ties to the US reported having been extorted.

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