1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the Trump administration's aggressive use of the Helms-Burton Act to advance regime change in Cuba and to defend Congressional authority over matters of war and foreign policy. On February 23, 2025, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases that could dramatically escalate tensions with Cuba while enriching corporate interests at the expense of diplomatic stability. In Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación Cimex, S.A., ExxonMobil seeks to strip Cuban government entities of sovereign immunity entirely over assets expropriated in 1960. In Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., a Kentucky-based company controlled by Mickael Behn, heir to International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, demands $439 million from four US cruise lines for using Havana port facilities between 2016 and 2019, based on a 1904 lease that expired in 2004. The Trump administration has filed amicus briefs supporting both corporate plaintiffs, calling compensation for these claims a "paramount" foreign policy interest. This position aligns with Secretary of State Marco Rubio's stated goals of regime change in Cuba and Venezuela. Every president from Clinton through Obama suspended Title III of the Helms-Burton Act to avoid straining relations with allies. Trump activated it in April 2019 after a lobbying campaign by Behn and fellow claimant Javier Garcia-Bengochea, working with Otto Reich, John Bolton, and the Cormac Group. Legal expert Robert Muse notes that in six years since Title III became operative, nobody has received a judgment. Most cases have been dismissed on procedural grounds. Yet the Supreme Court has devoted two docket slots to this issue despite only 50 total cases and no circuit split, suggesting extraordinary political pressure. This is vulture capitalism driving foreign policy. Cruise lines warn that accepting these theories would expose companies to massive retroactive liability and chill future normalization efforts. More fundamentally, this represents the executive branch using corporate lawsuits to pursue regime change without Congressional authorization. I urge you to publicly oppose these lawsuits, demand that the administration respect Congressional war powers, and support legislation to suspend Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. Diplomacy and Congressional authority must not be sacrificed to corporate profit-seeking.