Democrats urge Trump administration to ramp up efforts to curb trafficking of U.S.-made guns across border

Washington — A group of House and Senate Democrats is urging top Trump administration officials to use the recent designation of Latin American cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations to take action to curtail the flow of American-made guns across the southern border.

The 14 Democratic lawmakers said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi that the designation unlocks additional legal tools that would allow the administration to disrupt the cartels' financial networks and impose harsher penalties on entities that provide material support to them.

Federal law makes it a crime, subject to fines and up to 20 years in prison, to knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization. Entities that provide weapons, money, equipment or other support to those groups can face federal prosecution if found liable.