Sen. Mike Lee thinks the U.S. should turn to state-sponsored piracy to take on Mexican drug cartels.
The Utah Republican explained made the case for using privateers as a solution to border security in a series of X posts Monday.
Lee explained how Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war and “grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal,” which authorize private citizens to outfit private warships and sink or capture enemy vessels. Privateers get to keep part of the “bounty” they capture and turn the rest over to the government.
The last time Congress exercised the power—which was more than 200 years ago—it was an affordable way for the state to disrupt the economies of its enemies and help fund the U.S. war effort.
Today, privateering is considered a violation of international law and the U.S. has agreed not to do it. But Lee thinks the U.S. should bring it back to tackle the cartels, which he claims are threatening to target U.S. planes deporting undocumented immigrants.
“Congress could issue letters of marque and reprisal authorizing private security firms or specially trained civilians to intercept cartel operations, particularly those involving drug shipments or human trafficking across borders,” he wrote.
During his first day in office, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border. / Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The operations would focus on disrupting supply lines, capturing high-value targets, or seizing assets like boats, vehicles, cash and weapons. The benefits would be more flexibility and lower costs for the government, he argued, and could be an “effective alternative to war.”
Lee admitted the idea would draw criticism, but argued that “abstract” principles like international law should take a back seat to the “clear and present threat” posed by the cartels.
And yet, a dizzying array of things can go wrong when Congress unleashes financially motivated private citizens on a foreign enemy, Vanderbilt Law Professor Ingrid Wuerth said in a 2022 interview.
For one thing, privateers target the easiest and most lucrative targets, not the most strategically important ones. They also create situations that are “rife for abuse, overreaching and corruption,” which is the real reason the U.S. hasn’t used them since the War of 1812, Wuerth argued.
Based on the hypotheticals she gave, privateers could attack Mexican citizens—not just the cartels—and could try to illegally seize assets from legitimate businesses.
Plus, the whole point of letters of marque and reprisal was that the U.S. government didn’t have a Navy during the Revolutionary War and only had a weak Navy during the early decades of the republic. Today, the U.S. has the world’s most powerful military.
And even it wouldn’t technically mean going to war with Mexico, letters of marque and reprisal tend to be understood as an act of war, according to Wuerth.
Modern governments also has far more targeted enforcement mechanisms than the Founding Fathers did. But admittedly, “freezing cartel assets” doesn’t evoke the same level of excitement as “state-sponsored piracy.”
Despite the glaring issues, Lee has been making a case for the return of privateering for years. At CPAC 2011, the foremost gathering of the nation’s conservatives, he described granting letters of marque and reprisal as his “favorite power of Congress.”
The letters are “essentially a hall pass issued by Congress that entitles the bearer to act in the United States’ name and engage in state-sponsored acts of piracy on the high seas,” he explained at the time. “And so, help me, if it’s the last thing I do… I’m going to get a letter of marque of reprisal,” he said to laughter and applause. “I’m going to get a ship and an eyepatch, and I’m going to be a pirate, and you’re all invited to join me!”