Boat Strikes In International Waters Violate Constitution

I’m writing to demand immediate congressional action to stop President Trump’s extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Pacific. The administration has killed at least 83 people in 21 strikes on boats. They haven’t provided evidence these people were drug traffickers. No arrests. No trials. No constitutional authority from Congress. When CIA lawyers raised legal concerns, the White House bypassed them and used the military instead. When asked about congressional authorization, Trump said he doesn’t need a declaration of war because “we’re just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country.” That’s not how law and order works in a constitutional republic. Republican Senator Rand Paul called these strikes exactly what they are. Extrajudicial killings. The UN human rights chief condemned them as extrajudicial executions. Colombian President Gustavo Petro identified one victim as Alejandro Carranza, a fisherman, not a cartel member. The administration has shown zero evidence to the American public proving anyone killed was actually trafficking drugs. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. Trump cannot unilaterally decide we’re in armed conflict with unnamed groups in South America and start killing people in international waters based on secret intelligence nobody else can verify. President Gerald Ford issued Executive Order 11905 in 1976 banning assassinations by the U.S. government after congressional investigations revealed CIA abuses. President Reagan strengthened that ban in 1981. These weren’t partisan decisions. They recognized that a government killing people without due process or public accountability isn’t practicing law and order. It’s practicing lawlessness. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson wrote in 1950 that “The Constitution is not a suicide pact, but neither is it a license for government to do whatever it wants in the name of national security.” Even in war, we have rules. Even against enemies, we require evidence. I’m calling on you to invoke the War Powers Resolution and demand Trump cease these strikes immediately unless he can provide evidence to Congress and secure proper authorization. Introduce legislation cutting off funding for these operations until the administration produces proof that targets are actually drug traffickers and explains the legal justification for killing people without trial. The United Kingdom is already withholding intelligence from us over concerns these strikes violate international law. If we abandon due process abroad, we weaken it at home. This isn’t about being soft on drugs or cartels. This is about being a nation of laws. Republicans and Democrats both claim to support the Constitution. Prove it by stopping a president who thinks he can bypass lawyers, bypass Congress, and kill people based on his word alone.