Private security contractors, from left to right, Pat Scott, Mike Stocksett, Neil Gary, Matt Goss, and Kyle Kaszynski pose for a photograph while on a break from providing security in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Nov. 1, 2005. (Matt Moyer / Getty Images)
By Ben Zeisloft February 10, 2025 at 5:00am
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee has an unconventional but entirely constitutional idea for how our country can take on the Mexican drug cartels.
The lawmaker noted last month on social media that Congress has the authority to issue “letters of marque and reprisal,” essentially turning American citizens into privateers to combat the criminal syndicates ferrying drugs and trafficking humans across the southern border.
Lee explained that letters of marque and reprisal are “government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens” to perform acts that “would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime.”
🧵 1/ What Are Letters Of Marque And Reprisal And How Could They Be Used To Weaken Drug Cartels? 🚨 pic.twitter.com/0EeQigzVYm
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) January 27, 2025
Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to issue the letters of marque and reprisal, although “Congress hasn’t issued one in over a century.”
But Lee observed that “the authority to do so still exists.”
Congress could allow “private security firms or specially trained civilians to intercept cartel operations, particularly those involving drug shipments or human trafficking across borders.”
The intent would be disrupting supply lines, or even capturing boats, vehicles, cash, gold, and equipment.
Americans who successfully complete those operations would receive a cut of the loot as payment.
Should Congress issues letters of marque and reprisal to U.S. citizens who want to take the fight to the cartels?
The privateers would enjoy more flexibility than the American military, since privateers “operate with more agility than the government, adapting quickly with the tactics of cartels.”
The plan would also “reduce the financial burden on taxpayers.”
But Lee acknowledged that the plan would not necessarily be well-received by everyone.
“The use of letters of marque and reprisal would undoubtedly draw criticism, especially from those inclined to elevate abstract, often-inchoate principles of what they deem ‘international law’ above the sovereign interests of the United States,” he continued.
In any case, Lee made clear that “we have no desire to go to war with our southern neighbor,” although our country is constantly dealing with threats from the syndicates, such as the fact that “drug cartels are now threatening to target U.S. planes deporting illegal aliens.”
The cartels, empowered by four years of open borders, are indeed developing technological capabilities that make them a greater threat than ever to American sovereignty and the safety of our people.
Some reports show that the cartels are now using signal jammers to block American drones that monitor the border.
The traffickers can therefore detect unmanned aircraft, disrupt the signal between the drone and the operator, then cause the drone to crash or improperly function.
America faces greater challenges to our national security and prosperity than ever.
But whether our military or our people take on these threats, it’s abundantly clear that they must be quickly handled with overwhelming resolve.
Ben Zeisloft is the editor of The Republic Sentinel, a conservative news outlet owned and operated by Christians. He is a former staff reporter for The Daily Wire and has written for The Spectator, Campus Reform, and other conservative news outlets. Ben graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with concentrations in business economics and marketing.
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