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President Trump’s move to tell Congress that the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels is exactly the kind of decisive action this country needed after years of Republican weakness and Democratic indifference. The administration’s memo and the recent strikes in the Caribbean make clear that cartels aren’t just criminal enterprises — they’re transnational, heavily armed, and killing Americans by the tens of thousands with fentanyl and other drugs. For too long Washington treated this as a border problem instead of the national security emergency it is; finally, the White House has treated cartels like the enemy they are.
Conservatives who warned years ago that cartels would grow into paramilitary forces were right, and Rep. Chip Roy has been on the front lines pushing for the tools to fight back. Roy has repeatedly introduced legislation to designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and has applauded the administration’s steps to label violent gangs for what they are, arguing that only then can law enforcement and the military cut off cartel cash and infrastructure. If Congress won’t act to give law-abiding Americans the protection they deserve, leaders like Roy are right to force the conversation and demand real, enforceable policy.
Make no mistake: there is a political angle to this — Democrats have for years prioritized political theater and sanctuary policies over the safety of everyday Americans. While fact-checkers rightly note that federal law limits direct Medicaid and ACA benefits to undocumented immigrants, many blue states have used state funds to expand costly care, and Democrats have repeatedly resisted Republican fixes that would secure borders and cut cartel money flows. Voters see the hypocrisy: champions of open borders who cloak their priorities in compassion while refusing to confront the criminal networks that exploit our laws and harm our children.
On shows like The Will Cain Show, Rep. Roy has been blunt: Americans are facing an imminent threat and Washington “took its eye off the ball.” He’s not engaging in theater — he’s sounding the alarm because real cartel tactics, from drones to trafficked fentanyl shipments, are now affecting communities from coast to coast. That blunt realism is what conservatives have been calling for: stop the rhetoric, secure the border, and give law enforcement and the military the legal clarity they need to destroy cartel networks.
Republicans should not apologize for supporting firm, lawful action to defend American lives and sovereignty. When cartels operate like militias, funding, freezing assets, revoking visas for known perpetrators, and targeting their leadership are not only appropriate — they are necessary. Leadership means making hard choices; if that shakes the status quo in Washington, so be it. The alternative is more funerals, more overdoses, and more parents burying children because politicians chose ideology over security.
Let Democrats explain to voters why they are more worried about political optics than stopping the flow of death into our communities. Let them answer whether they prefer courtroom questions to mothers’ tears, and whether they believe U.S. soil should be a safe harbor for cartel business rather than a fortress for law-abiding Americans. Republicans must turn this into a stark contrast in 2026: who will defend citizens, and who will defend open borders and permissive policies that empower criminals?
Congress must now act with urgency — not to micromanage the military, but to provide the legal clarity and funding to cut cartel supply chains, support frontline border agents, and stop the flow of fentanyl. If lawmakers continue to dither while cartels modernize into armed proxies, they will own the consequences. Patriotic Americans know what’s at stake: secure borders, ordered law enforcement, and a government that puts citizens first — and leaders like Rep. Chip Roy are right to demand it.
