As President Trump promised during his campaign, tackling illegal immigration should be top of mind for the transition team, but mitigating the border crisis will be difficult as long as Mexican drug cartels have a vote. And thanks to a new constitutional amendment passed by Mexico’s congress, they will.

The cartels already operate with virtual impunity. Their ability to traffic drugs and humans across the border is seemingly unfettered by the Mexican judicial system, let alone by current U.S. efforts. A recent example is the discovery of five decapitated bodies and plastic-wrapped heads in northeastern Jalisco, Mexico. The notorious Jalisco New Generation drug cartel (the CJNG) is most likely to blame. To date, no arrests have been made. Since the beginning of the year, more than a thousand people have been murdered in Jalisco.

And when it comes to influencing elections, the cartels have a history of assassinating political candidates they don’t like. In the run-up to the 2024 Mexican presidential election alone, 37 candidates have been killed.

Now the latest judicial reforms passed by the Mexican congress allow the cartels to train their sights on would-be........

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