Congress Must Reject
Trump’s War Plans for Mexico
Win Without War

(April 9, 2025) — Troubling reports reveal a Trump administration push to propel a failed war on drugs into a reckless, devastating war in Mexico.

Make no mistake: This is how dangerous ideas turn into deadly policies. How do we know? Earlier this year, our sister organization, the Win Without War Education Fund, brought a team of former defense, diplomatic, trade, labor, and civil society experts, among others from the United States and Mexico to Capitol Hill to run a tabletop exercise to find out exactly what the outcome of U.S. strikes on cartels in Mexico would be.

The result? Chaos, violence, and harm. Even a “limited” U.S. strike would trigger events ranging from a trade war, mass displacement, a crackdown on civil liberties, and a rupture in diplomatic relations. One thing had not changed: The amount of synthetic drugs crossing the southern border.

Trump’s moves won’t halt the drug trade or help families struggling amidst a fentanyl crisis but they will increase violence and displacement within Mexico and ruin the critical, mutually-beneficial cross-border relationship.

Luckily, Representative Joaquin Castro has introduced a resolution to oppose this deadly policy drift by affirming Mexico’s sovereignty and condemning these reckless moves.[3] Congress must act swiftly to pass it and pull us off this misguided path to war.

Legislation like this is the clearest way to send an unequivocal message to the Trump administration, and the entire world, that no one wants a U.S. war in Mexico, and it’s activists like us who will build the support to get it done. That’s why we’re organizing people across the country to join us in telling every member of Congress to cosponsor and pass the resolution immediately. Will you speak out now?

Elon Musk, whose influence over this White House was disturbingly clear during last month’s Cabinet meeting, laid bare the consequences of designating cartels and criminal groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs): “That means they’re eligible for drone strikes.” And Seb Gorka, Trump’s Senior Director for Counterterrorism, is pushing for military operations inside Mexico, without cooperation from the Mexican government or authorization from Congress.

But it’s not just Musk and Gorka who’ve got us worried. Senior Trump officials and far-right think tanks have been openly calling for unilateral military action in Mexico for months. Right now, the CIA is ramping up surveillance flights over Mexico. Defense Secretary Hegseth maintains that when it comes to the possibility of U.S. strikes, ‘all options will be on the table.’

All this warmongering is trickling down: a breathtaking majority — 83% — of active-duty families believe the United States will be involved in a new large-scale war somewhere in the world within the next few years.

The truth is that there aren’t military solutions to the problems we face. Communities struggling in the face of violence and addiction don’t need bombs and guns — and we all deserve better than hawkish armchair generals in DC who would slow-walk us to another unnecessary and completely avoidable war.

Bombing Mexico will not stop fentanyl trafficking or help communities weather the overdose crisis, but without forceful pushback from Congress and activists like us, we could soon see even more violence, more instability, and more suffering.

The path to war is laid out before us, but we can change course with clear, forceful opposition, and Rep. Castro’s ‘Resolution Opposing U.S. Military Action Against Mexico’ is a first, key step in this fight. Tell Congress to co-sponsor and pass this urgently needed legislation now.

Military action has consequences, and millions of people in Nogales, El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, San Diego, Tijuana and more will be caught in the crossfire if we don’t change course.

Instead of supporting communities struggling in the face of addiction, Trump cronies Elon Musk and OPM Director Russell Vought are shutting down support to local clinics and national health initiatives, rolling up our public health infrastructure and inevitably making those struggling with fentanyl use even more dependent on an illicit drug trade that profits the cartels.

People in the United States and Mexico alike face real challenges that require cooperation, diplomacy, and smart policy, not threats of bombs and invasion. Let’s throw up a roadblock on this dangerous path to war now before it’s too late.

Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team