A group of Americans who have lost relatives to violence perpetrated by drug cartels are urging the Trump administration to designate additional criminal groups as terrorist organizations, according to a letter obtained exclusively by ABC News.
The letter, which was sent to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, was written by members of a newly formed coalition, American families against the terrorism of the poster, and asks for the Juarez poster and its army wing, the line, which will be added to the list of foreign terrorist organizations of the State Department, or FTO.
“As afflicted citizens of the United States (parents, spouses, brothers, children and survivors, we write to the unbearable pain of losing their loved ones to the brutal violence of Mexican drug cartels,” the letter begins.
“It is not just our families, it is about keeping the Americans safe and obtaining justice for all American victims and ensuring that it does not stay behind not American,” he continues. “We want to prevent our fellow citizens from experiencing the pain and loss we have faced.”
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Maria Malmer Steargard, in the State Department, in Washington, on June 20, 2025.
Alex Wroblewski/AFP through Getty Images
A FTO label criminalizes the provision of any material support for the designated organization and automatically prohibits group members who do not have American citizenship entering the country. It also allows victims of the attacks of the organization and their survivors to demand for compensation.
Traditionally, the United States government has used the tool against extremist groups, but the Trump administration has already shown a willingness to expand the interpretation of FTO criteria, designating eight drug cartels that operate in Latin America earlier this year, as well as two Haitian gangs.
However, critics of administration policies have argued that designations do not significantly change the ability of the United States government to investigate and prosecute posters.
“We are grateful for the strong actions that you have already taken to combat drug cartels. We ask you to designate the Juarez cartel and its armed wing La Línea as FTO, and continue to send a clear message that the United States will not tolerate the murder of innocent Americans or the terrorization of our communities”, the letter to Rubio.
The members of the American families against the terrorism of the poster (AMFAC) shared their personal memories of losses in the statements provided to ABC News.
“On November 4, 2019, I found a face to face with the Juarez poster and its armed wing La Línea, while spraying our family with thousands of bullets,” said Devin Langford, a survivor of a brutal poster massacre that lost his mother, Dawna Langford, and two younger brothers, Trevor, 11 and Rogan, 2, in the horrible attack.
“I can never bring my mother back to the brothers, but I can speak so that no American has to fear the violence of the Mexican drug poster,” he said.
The president of the American families against the terrorism of the poster, Adriana Jones, lost her sister when she was fired and killed her up to four of her children in the same violent incident.
“Mexican posters are criminal organizations that traffic of death and destruction, and threaten the safety of families throughout the United States,” he said. “AMFACT is giving survivors and families a voice, so no one else has to endure pain, terror and anguish we have lived.”
