Since the mid-1990s, the Executive Branch has sought to target foreign terrorist organizations, and those individuals and organizations supporting them, in order to degrade their funding and support. Organizations and individuals designated through these processes can face criminal and civil penalties and find their assets frozen or seized.
While these terrorist designations have typically been reserved for armed militant groups overseas who were engaged in acts of ideological violence against civilians, the same authorities have also been used to designate transnational criminal organizations, including the recent designation of cartels and Haitian gangs. This primer provides an overview of the various terrorism designation processes, the implications of these designations, and pathways to challenge these designations.
Read the full Terrorism Designations Primer.