Trump's Terrorism
Designation of Criminal Cartels: Types of Designations
and Potential Impacts
February 10, 2025
The Trump administration has issued an Executive Order that seeks to designate international criminal cartels and their enablers as terrorist organizations – specifically establishing a process to consider whether the cartels should be listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) or both. Taken together, this pair of complementary designations could pack a powerful one-two punch against the cartels, including those responsible for the devastating fentanyl epidemic in the United States. What are those designations and what do they do?
Impact
FTO
SDGT
Victims can sue for civil damages arising from the provision of material support to a terrorist organization
Yes
1
2
Allows for U.S. government asset freezes/financial sanctions
3
(for entities in U.S. jurisdiction only)
4
(to include targeting of any financial institution connected to U.S. financial system)
Legal threshold for criminal prosecution for providing material support to a terrorist organization
7
Conviction requires proof that violators knew they were providing support to an organization engaged
in terrorism 7
in terrorism 7
8
Conviction requires proof that a U.S. person “willfully” provided support to a terrorist organization — a higher
standard of proof 8
standard of proof 8
Extraterritorial application
9
(explicitly stated; applicable anywhere to anyone)
10
(not explicitly stated; applicable only to U.S. persons or anyone who causes a U.S. person to violate sanctions against an SDGT)
Criminal penalty for providing material support to a terrorist organization
11
Up to life in prison 11
12
Up to 20 years in prison 12
Notes
- Over the past 30 years, Congress has repeatedly made it easier for American victims of terrorism to sue aiders and abettors of terrorism, by creating a private right of action against those that provide support to designated FTOs. 18 U.S.C. §2339B creates civil liability for anyone who “knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so.” 18 U.S.C. §2333(d)(2) also establishes civil liability for aiding and abetting or conspiring with an organization designated as a “foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. §1189).”
- 18 U.S.C. §2339B refers to FTOs, not SDGTs, as does 18 U.S.C. §2333(d)(2), which establishes civil liability for attacks committed, planned, or authorized by an FTO, but not for attacks committed, planned, or authorized by SDGTs.
- Under the current law, any individual or entity in the United States or otherwise subject to U.S. jurisdiction is prohibited from conducting transactions with the government of a designated state sponsor of terrorism. It is also unlawful for any such individual or entity to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to a designated FTO, and U.S. financial institutions may be required to block all FTO assets. Foreign corporations that knowingly provide support to a designated FTO can be found civilly or criminally liable, provided they are subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
- In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration issued Executive Order 13224 for SDGT designations, providing expanded legal authorities for the State Department and Treasury Department to target such individuals and entities. Specifically, the authority enabled the United States to target terrorist financiers that access the U.S. financial system. In 2019, the executive order was expanded to include the application of secondary sanctions on any individuals or entities, including businesses, that allow their services to be used by SDGTs. That expansion further increased the risk associated with providing financial services to terrorists. Such conduct, however, must touch upon the United States or a U.S. person.
- Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to, and in certain circumstances removable from, the United States. There are multiple indices and criteria for immigration restrictions.
- There are no immigration restrictions attached to an SDGT designation.
- The prosecution must prove only that the defendant “knowingly” provided material support or resources to an FTO. Such a crime is punishable by life in prison if the material support or resources provided to the FTO resulted in the death of any person. That penalty would disappear if the IRGC were delisted.
- Criminal prosecution for engaging in a significant transaction with an SDGT, in violation of Executive Order 13224, requires the prosecution to prove that the defendant willfully violated sanctions against the SDGT.
- The extraterritorial application is explicitly stated throughout the statute with respect to material support for an FTO. For example, the FTO statute allows the U.S. government to prosecute anyone, including foreign nationals, who conspire to provide material support or resources to, or receiving military-type training from, a designated FTO or engage in other terroristic activities, even when such conduct was committed entirely outside of the United States.
- The criminal penalties associated with an SDGT designation apply to all individuals or entities subject to U.S. jurisdiction, wherever located, and to anyone that causes such an individual or entity to violate sanctions against that SDGT deliberately or inadvertently. But those penalties apply only to conduct that occurred in the United States or was committed by a U.S. person.
- Severe criminal penalties are applied throughout the FTO statute, including with respect to providing material support to a terrorist organization. Specifically, anyone who knowingly provides material support or resources to an FTO or attempts or conspires to do so could face imprisonment for up to 20 years. If that support results the death of any person, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
- Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), from which the criminal penalties for the SDGT designation are derived, any person who “willfully” provides, attempts or conspires to provide, or aids or abets in the provision of material support to an SDGT “shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000,000, or if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.” The knowledge standard — “willfully” — is much higher than that in the FTO provision.
- The FTO statute includes civil penalties for noncompliance, particularly with respect to financial institutions that fail to comply with freezing certain accounts. Each violation carries a civil penalty of $50,000 or twice the amount of which the financial institution was required to retain possession or control.
- Under IEEPA, anyone who violates sanctions is subject to a civil penalty of $250,000 or twice the amount of the transaction that is the basis for the penalty.
Design by Daniel Ackerman
Development by Pavak Patel
Development by Pavak Patel
