On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at countering international drug trafficking and cracking down on anti-police violence and other violent crime. “America faces many challenges. We face the menace of rising crime, the threat of deadly terror, and it’s not getting better. But it will very soon,” Trump said.
The first executive order focuses on international drug trafficking and will allow the US Government to better target drug cartels, which were blamed for an increase in drug-related deaths and drug-use epidemics across the US. President Trump also accused the cartels of creating “a corresponding rise in violent crime related to drugs”.
The second executive order directs new Attorney General Jeff Sessions to target those who “commit or attempt to commit crimes of violence against Federal, State, tribal and local law enforcement officers.” That executive order leaves some discretion to the Congress and the Attorney General to create and enforce new laws that specifically pertain to violence towards law enforcement.
And the third executive order directs the Attorney General to create a new task force to pursue crime reduction, with a focus on curbing illegal immigration and violent crimes.
Photo via Gage Skidmore