Latest news with #NicholasQuets
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Father of slain veteran says Biden's border policies emboldened cartels, Trump restoring order
The father of a former U.S. Marine killed by cartel gunmen in Mexico is praising President Trump's recent crackdown on organized crime. He also blames what he calls "failed border policies" under the Biden administration for enabling the violence that claimed his son's life. Nicholas Quets, a 31-year-old former Marine infantryman living in Tucson, Arizona, was in the process of applying to become a U.S. Border Patrol agent when he was killed on Oct. 18, while traveling along the Caborca-Altar Highway in northern Mexico. Nicholas encountered a cartel roadblock of 11 heavily armed vehicles consisting of approximately 25 men. His father, Warren Quets, told Fox News Digital that the Sinaloa Cartel identified him as an American because of his license plate and the language he spoke. "They chased him down like a dog and shot him, like the cowards they were," he said. Warren noted that immigration policies under former President Biden were perceived as an "invitation" for those south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Those policies, combined with the exploitation of migrants by coyotes and cartel members, facilitated mass crossings over the last four years, Warren added. "If they made it to the U.S. border, it would be a catch-and-release policy," he said. Fox News Digital reached out to representatives of Biden for comment, but did not immediately hear back. Warren also claimed that some NGOs and local agencies profited from the border crisis, including churches and organizations that received donations and government funding tied to migrant processing. In January, two shelters in Pima County, Arizona, where Nicholas had worked prior to his death, closed their doors, according to the Arizona Daily Star. Shelters and other organizations also closed in several other states, including Texas, California and New York. Warren told Fox News Digital that the U.S. must maintain constant pressure on "soulless" criminal organizations and support cultural change in Mexico, describing America's southern neighbor as a "de facto failed state" where citizens lack faith in the government due to cartel infiltration. He stressed that while there is cause for hope under the new administration, it must be tied to continued, concrete action. "There is a message that targeting U.S. citizens any place in the world is no longer acceptable and comes with consequences. President Trump, you know, he's directly responsible for sending that message, and that message is working," Warren said. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks posted to X on August 1 that southwest border apprehensions hit a monthly record low in July, with only 4,399 apprehensions. For the third month in a row, there have been zero releases. This marks a new all-time record low, surpassing the prior record low of 6,070 in June. During the Biden administration, the record high was December 2023, with 249,785 apprehensions, the majority of which resulted in releases into the U.S. The nosedive in numbers is seen as a major victory by Republicans and the Trump administration. Warren also highlighted several other key victories, citing his son's passing as a strong motivator behind many actions taken against cartels by the current administration. For example, a June 9 press release from the Department of Treasury noted that Nicholas' death was a driving force behind sanctions levied against "El Chapo's" children and Los Chapitos, a fentanyl-trafficking faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The tragedy has also influenced U.S. policy in other cases. In July, the Department of Homeland Security mentioned Nicholas while announcing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest of Sinaloa Cartel affiliate Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. A Sunday report from The New York Times suggested that President Trump has secretly authorized military force against Latin American drug cartels. These groups, including the Sinaloa Cartel responsible for Nicholas' death, were designated as foreign terrorist organizations in February. "[Trump has] been great to my family. He's kept in touch with us. His administration kept in touch with us. He's treated us like his family. And I think he would do that for anybody in this situation. I don't think it's particular to me. So, I'm grateful for that. You know, Nick will not die in vain because Nick is now the reason for many of these changes," Warren told Fox News Digital.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Dad of murdered veteran blames Biden admin for deadly cartel attack
Warren Quets spoke with Fox News Digital about getting justice for his son, Nicholas Quets, and the Trump administration's work to thwart Mexican drug cartels.
Fox News
28-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
DHS video honors Marine killed by Mexican cartel, touts Trump's crackdown on 'terrorists'
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security released a video honoring late Marine Corps veteran Nicholas Quets and highlighting his death at the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel, which the department says it is taking "decisive action" to address. "Drug cartels are being called what they truly are: foreign terrorist organizations," the two-and-a-half-minute video states before showing an interview with retired Army Lt. Col. Warren D. Quotes Jr. and Patricia Quets, whose son Nicholas was shot and killed at a Sinaloa Cartel checkpoint on his way to Rocky Point, Mexico, with friends on Oct. 18, 2024. The cartel members attempted to steal Quets' pickup truck before shooting him in the back through the heart, ending his life at 31 years old. "I felt validated and vindicated," Quets' father says in the video, explaining how Trump spoke with him about his son's death after receiving no feedback from the Biden administration or the Kamala Harris campaign. "Designating all those organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, it makes things safer for us and puts them on the defensive. We want to send a message that targeting Americans anywhere has legal consequences. I thank President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem for dedicating their lives to protecting others and for being good stewards of the American taxpayers' dollars, efforts and resources." Quets' mother says in the video, "I want to thank everybody for putting this together and giving us a voice." In a press release, DHS outlined the ways it has "taken decisive action to dismantle drug cartels," including the president signing an executive order on his first day in office to "designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations," giving law enforcement the ability to "crack down" on sex trafficking operations from the cartels in the United States. Additionally, on what would have been Quets' 32nd birthday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions on six individuals and seven entities that were allegedly operating a money-laundering scheme that supported the Sinaloa Cartel. "Nicholas Quets was a patriot who served our country honorably and was killed by these cartel cowards who shot him in the back. President Trump and Secretary Noem are honoring his memory by dismantling the Sinaloa cartel and other drug cartels that profit from trafficking, violence, and lawlessness," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "President Trump's strong leadership and these arrests and prosecutions of scum-of-the-earth cartel leaders are delivering results. The days of unchecked cartel violence are over." In an interview with Fox News Digital leading up to the presidential election, Quets' father said, "I do believe in Donald Trump as a man of his word – not the TV character, not the billionaire – but a person who I looked at face to face and talked with." "America got a little bit weaker. My family was destroyed, but America got a little bit weaker. Mexico got a little bit weaker. Those cartels got a little bit stronger. And the only way to reverse that is to go after these people."
