# Understanding the Terrorist Organization Classification Act of 2023

This bill asks the Secretary of State to officially label five major Mexican drug cartels—MS-13, Queen Nation, Sinaloa, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, and Beltrán Leyva Organization—as foreign terrorist organizations. Right now, these groups are primarily treated as criminal organizations, but this bill would change their legal classification to give them the same designation as groups like Al-Qaeda. The bill requires the State Department to submit a detailed report to Congress within 30 days explaining why each cartel meets the legal criteria for being called a terrorist organization, and then to officially make those designations if the evidence supports it.

What does this change actually mean? When a group gets labeled as a foreign terrorist organization, it triggers serious legal consequences. Banks and financial institutions are required to freeze any assets connected to the group, it becomes illegal for Americans to provide material support to them, and it makes it easier for law enforcement to prosecute people involved with these organizations. The designation also signals to other countries that the U.S. considers these groups a serious international threat, which can lead to increased cooperation on enforcement and intelligence sharing.

The bill includes one important limitation: it specifically says that this terrorist designation cannot be used to expand asylum eligibility for immigrants. In other words, someone fleeing violence from these cartels cannot automatically claim they deserve asylum just because the cartels are now officially labeled as terrorist organizations. This appears designed to prevent the bill from becoming a backdoor way to increase immigration protections. The report itself will be available to Congress in electronic form only, and can include classified information if needed to protect sensitive intelligence sources.

Terrorist Organization Classification Act of 2023

Santos, George

Terrorist Organization Classification Act of 2023 This bill directs the Department of State to designate five specified drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. (Among other things, such a designation allows the Department of the Treasury to require financial institutions to block transactions involving the organization.) The five specified cartels in the bill are MS-13, Queen Nation, Sinaloa, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, and Beltran Leyva Organization. The bill also requires the State Department to submit a detailed report on those five cartels and any other cartels it may identify. Based on this report, the State Department must designate as a foreign terrorist organization any such identified cartel (or faction thereof) that meets certain criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization. The bill specifies that it may not be construed to expand eligibility for asylum.