Cartels at the US Gate: How the Open Border Fueled a Foreign Terror Threat

In January 2025, the White House finally did what should have been done years ago: designate Mexico’s brutal drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. This action gives U.S. authorities broader tools to freeze assets, gather intelligence, and dismantle these violent syndicates. As Border Czar Tom Homan said last week on X, “The Biden Administration is responsible for the most inhumane immigration policies in U.S. history.” He is right. The open border has created the perfect storm for chaos, and the cartels are thriving because of it. 

The fentanyl crisis was not accidental. China supplies the chemicals, but it is the Mexican cartels who manufacture and distribute the poison. Fentanyl is a synthetic killer that has claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives. None of this would have been possible without the Biden administration’s reckless border policies. The cartels were given free rein to exploit a system that no longer functions. 

Today’s cartels are not street gangs. They are paramilitary empires. Groups like the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel have private armies, armored vehicles, encrypted communications, and surveillance technology. Some even use spyware like Pegasus to monitor law enforcement, journalists, and rival organizations. They are militarized, disciplined, and global in reach. And they operated with confidence because they knew our border was wide open. 

In 2023, when Ovidio Guzmán Lopez, son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, was arrested, the Sinaloa Cartel launched a violent siege in the Mexican city of Culiacán. They shut down highways, attacked airports, and engaged in urban warfare with the Mexican military. That was not just a criminal response. It was an act of war. If you think something like that cannot happen in the United States, think again. 

The cartels already operate in all 50 states. Their distribution networks are active in every major city and many small towns. They traffic fentanyl, weapons, and human beings. They are embedded in communities across the country. And when millions of illegal immigrants poured over the border, often smuggled by cartel networks, the federal government had no idea who they were, what they were carrying, or where they were going. 

You want to stop the fentanyl epidemic? Secure the border. 
You want to prevent human trafficking and modern slavery? Secure the border. 
You want to stop foreign terrorist organizations from taking root on American soil? Secure the border. 

During President Donald Trump’s first term, immigration enforcement was strong, and cartel influence was being pushed back. The “Remain in Mexico” policy, increased wall construction, and support for Border Patrol were working. But when the Biden administration took office, those policies were dismantled. Remain in Mexico ended. Border wall construction stopped. Deportations plummeted. Sanctuary cities expanded. The result was predictable. The border collapsed. 

The Biden administration replaced security with surrender. Legal immigration involves background checks, interviews, and proper documentation. But open-border Democrats removed those safeguards. Instead of compassion, they delivered chaos. And in doing so, they handed the cartels their biggest victory in history. 

This outcome was avoidable. Trump and conservative leaders issued clear warnings. They called for the cartels to be designated as terrorist organizations. They demanded action to stop fentanyl, close loopholes, and build the infrastructure necessary to defend our border. They were mocked by the media and ignored by the Left. But they were right all along. 

Now the free world is facing the consequences. Cartels are no longer simply drug traffickers. They are fully operational, foreign terrorist organizations with the resources to challenge governments. And thanks to former President Joe Biden’s policies, they have a foothold inside the United States. 

This is not just Mexico’s problem anymore. It is a problem of the whole free world. We are in a new kind of war. It is a war fought with drugs, deception, and terror. And we are on the front lines, especially as fentanyl has already penetrated Europe. 

Remember the days when Trump was blaming China for the fentanyl epidemic and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans? Well, folks, it is all true, but it is about to change. For the worst. And the change will be rapid. The Mexican drug cartels have started a campaign of hiring top chemists and chemical scientists, and they have already hired hundreds. The ultimate goal? To produce their own fentanyl precursors and cut ties with China as their main supplier.

When they do that—it is not “if” but “when”—fentanyl will become cheaper, much more accessible, and much more widely spread in pure form and in laced drugs. And yes, there will be a new wave of mass deaths because of that. Because of fentanyl. Because of the cartels.         

The United States must act with urgency. That means finishing the wall, deploying the National Guard where necessary, continue restoring Trump immigration policies, and using every legal and military tool available to dismantle the cartels before more Americans die. 

Because if the U.S. does not fully act, the next cartel siege will not happen in Sinaloa. It will happen in South Texas, in rural Arizona, or in middle America. 

And when it does, we will know exactly who to blame. 

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