DR ‹ › The initiative to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization is gaining traction in the U.S. Congress. Led by Republican Joe Wilson and Democrat Jimmy Panetta, the bipartisan effort has recently marked a new step forward with the support of Republican Representative Pat Harrigan. Harrigan, a former military officer and member of the House Armed Services Committee, officially endorsed the bill on February 13. His backing comes shortly after discussions on Western Sahara held on February 8 and 9 at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. The talks, organized under the Trump administration, brought together representatives from Morocco, Algeria, the Polisario Front, and Mauritania. Harrigan's move follows an announcement made ten days earlier by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who said he would introduce a parallel measure in the Senate to classify the Polisario as a terrorist organization. Cruz had previously attempted, in November 2015, to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group in the United States. Under U.S. law, the State Department also has the authority to designate groups, organizations, or individuals as foreign terrorist entities. In March 2025, for instance, the Trump administration reinstated Yemen's Houthis on the list, reversing a prior decision made under President Joe Biden.
