A former U.S. marshal said Tuesday that America should have declared war on Mexico's drug cartels "a long time ago.
Former El Paso, Texas U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte joined "America's Newsroom" to discuss the deaths of two American citizens who were kidnapped, calling for a boycott of travel to Mexico by American citizens.
"We need to get angry and I'm waiting for more people to get angry. I'm waiting for our White House to get angry because the Mexican government has failed its people, it is failing the United States, and our citizens as well. And it's time for us to do something."
FOUR AMERICANS KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO: WHAT WE KNOW
Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said that one of the surviving Americans was wounded and the other was not, while two of the four U.S. citizens who traveled to Mexico were found dead, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The two Americans who survived the violent kidnapping in Mexico have returned to the United States and have been transported to a hospital in Texas.
Retired ICE Special Agent Victor Avila said on "America Reports" Tuesday that the incident shows that "these cartels have no regard for human life."
"What was very strange is that they took the bodies with them, I think, as they realized that they were Americans, and they were trying to cover something up."
Almonte said it is time for the United States to "step up its game" and go after the cartels and start "taking them out." He suggested Americans should stop going to Mexico for any reason, saying that boycotting travel may force the Mexican government to finally "do something."
"It's all about money," said Almonte. "I think it's time for the American people to put their foot down. And actually, I think it's time that we have a boycott on travel to Mexico until Mexico gets a handle on the situation."
Almonte said the fentanyl crisis is another reason why Americans should stop traveling to Mexico and it is making matters worse.
Avila stressed the importance of Americans paying attention to travel alerts while in Mexico.
TWO OF THE FOUR AMERICANS KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO ARE DEAD, TWO ALIVE: REPORT
"You might be OK at a resort, but you need to understand that the cartels control Mexico," he added, emphasizing that people who travel to Mexico need to understand they're going to a "war zone."
"Things are much worse than they used to be, with the fentanyl that we've been talking about, and nothing being done from our White House, nothing being done from the Mexican government. Unfortunately, corruption is embedded in the fiber, the fabric that makes Mexico what Mexico is."
Almonte said the murder of the two Americans looked like a targeted attack.
"It looked like they were specifically targeted. Now, it may have been an unintentional target. They thought they were somebody else, but it does not appear that they were caught in the crossfire at all."
On Friday, "four Americans crossed into Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle. All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men," the FBI said in a statement.
Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital pointed to President Biden’s immigration policies as sharing the blame for the kidnappings, arguing that his lack of enforcement at the border has emboldened Mexico’s cartels.
"The cartels couldn’t ask for a better partner in crime than Joe Biden—his weakness allows them to operate unchecked," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said. "President Biden needs to secure the border and declare war against the cartels to protect Americans from drugs and this bold-faced violence."
Fox News' Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.
