Ian Patrick, FISM News

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The heightened awareness of the danger posed by cartels is not lost on the American people.

According to a Rasmussen survey released on Wednesday, 79% of likely U.S. voters say that Mexican drug cartels are a “serious threat” to the U.S., including 55% who say that the threat is “very serious.”

On the other hand, 16% of respondents don’t believe that cartels are a serious threat.

The second question asked whether or not these cartels should be designated as terrorist organizations and received 69% support from voting Americans. The issue seems to span political aisles, as 80% of Republican respondents and 65% of Democrat respondents supported the designation.

The question of designating cartels as terrorists has been floating around the federal government in recent days.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that President Joe Biden is looking to issue such a designation during a press briefing last week.

“Designating these cartels as FTOs (foreign terrorist organizations) would not grant us any additional authorities that we don’t really have at this time,” Jean-Pierre said. “The United States has powerful sanctions authorities specifically designated to combat narcotics trafficking organizations and the individuals and entities that enable them.”

A reporter had asked Jean-Pierre about the terrorist designation in regard to the four Americans who were kidnapped near the U.S.-Mexican border last week.

This particular instance generated calls from some U.S. politicians to use the military in order to exert control over the cartels. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) even introduced legislation at the time to designate nine cartels as terrorist organizations.