As part of his efforts to secure the nation's borders, President Donald Trump has strongly suggested that serious action may be necessary to combat and curtail the illicit cross-border activities of Mexican drug cartels and other particularly violent Latin American street gangs.

A significant step was made in that direction on Thursday when Trump's State Department formally designated six Mexican cartels and two notorious transnational gangs as terrorist organizations, Reuters reported.

Though the full scope of the designations remains unclear at this time, it would allow for the disruption of the named groups' finances through asset freezes, property seizures, and travel bans for members, and would also provide additional tools and authorizations for law enforcement and the U.S. military to use against them.

Taking on "terrorist" Mexican cartels and Latin American street gangs

On President Trump's first day in office to begin his second term, he issued an executive order on the issue of designating drug cartels and violent street gangs as terrorist organizations, fulfilling a promise from not just his re-election campaign but also his first term that concluded four years earlier.

The order highlighted the violence and criminality of the organizations -- including the cross-border trafficking of humans, drugs, money, and weapons -- and declared, "It is the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures, thereby protecting the American people and the territorial integrity of the United States."

The order further directed relevant department heads, including the secretary of State, to study the issue and make recommendations within a set timeframe on whether and how to designate certain cartels and street gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).

Formal designations for six cartels and two gangs

Secretary of State Marco Rubio provided those recommendations to President Trump as ordered and, exactly one month later, officially announced terrorist designations for six Mexican drug cartels and two Latin American street gangs that have been heavily involved in the drug trade, human smuggling, and other criminal activity.

The FTO and SDGT designations now apply to the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Northeast Cartel (formerly known as Los Zetas), the Gulf Cartel, the La Nueva Familia Michoacana Cartel, and the United Cartel, as well as the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang and Salvadoran MS-13 gang.

"The intent of designating these cartels and transnational organizations as terrorists is to protect our nation, the American people, and our hemisphere," the State Department said. "That means stopping the campaigns of violence and terror by these vicious groups both in the United States and internationally. These designations provide law enforcement additional tools to stop these groups."

"Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities," the announcement added. "Today’s actions taken by the State Department demonstrate the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests and dismantling these dangerous organizations."

The cartels and gangs have earned the "terrorist" designations

The State Department also released a "fact sheet" on the designations that provided some information on why the named groups received the FTO and SDGT designations, and further explained, "Terrorist designations expose and isolate entities and individuals, denying them access to the U.S. financial system and the resources they need to carry out attacks."

"As a result of actions taken today, all property and interests in property of those designated today that are in the United States or that are in possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them," the release added. "Moreover, designations can assist law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and governments."

The Associated Press also published a brief breakdown of each of the designated cartels and street gangs and why they have earned the "terrorist" label that is typically reserved for foreign organizations that utilize extreme violence to push radical ideologies or for political gain.

It is unclear at this point what the result of the terrorist designations will be in terms of actions taken by the U.S. against the targeted cartels and gangs, but Reuters noted that the U.S. is already covertly operating surveillance drones in Mexican airspace, with the Mexican government's collaboration, to locate and keep tabs on the leadership and important infrastructure of the cartels and gangs.