Congress Must Stop Unlawful Killings At Sea in Caribbean

CONGRESS MUST STOP LETHAL U.S. STRIKES ON SMALL BOATS As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to use every lawful power of Congress to halt and investigate U.S. military operations that destroy small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as part of a stated counternarcotics campaign. Credible reporting indicates that since September 2025, these strikes have resulted in the deaths of at least 117 people, with dozens of vessels destroyed, often without arrest, interdiction, or judicial process. THESE OPERATIONS RAISE GRAVE LEGAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS Public reporting describes incidents in which boats were disabled and survivors were left bobbing in the water. There are also allegations of follow-on strikes after the initial attack. If accurate, such actions raise serious concerns under U.S. law, the Constitution, and international legal obligations governing the use of force, the protection of civilians, and the prohibition on extrajudicial killing. These are not marginal issues but core questions about whether lethal force is being used lawfully or in excess of any permissible authority. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT IS CRITICAL The Executive Branch has not publicly articulated a clear statutory or constitutional basis for treating alleged drug-smuggling vessels as lawful military targets subject to lethal force. Nor has it disclosed the applicable rules of engagement, target-identification standards, or casualty-assessment procedures governing these strikes. Without immediate oversight, Congress risks allowing a precedent in which lethal force is normalized outside any declared armed conflict and beyond meaningful accountability. WHAT CONGRESS MUST DO NOW (1) Require an immediate moratorium on all lethal strikes against small vessels in this campaign unless and until Congress receives the asserted legal authority, applicable rules of engagement, targeting standards, and complete after-action casualty assessments. (2) Hold public and classified hearings with Department of Defense officials, SOUTHCOM leadership, administration lawyers, and independent experts in international humanitarian and human rights law to shed light on whether these operations comply with U.S. law and treaty obligations. (3) Use authorization and appropriations powers to prohibit funding for any operation that destroys vessels without attempting interdiction, arrest, and evidence preservation. Such restrictions should also bar any follow-on strike when individuals are already in the water and no longer pose an imminent threat. (4) Require an independent investigation of each incident involving deaths at sea. This should include allegations of follow-on strikes or failures to render assistance to survivors, with findings reported to Congress. THE COST OF INACTION A rising death toll, combined with secrecy and unresolved legal questions, makes delay unacceptable. Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to reassert its oversight role before these practices become entrenched and irreversible, to enforce compliance with the law of war, domestic law, and international law, and to ensure that U.S. military operations reflect the standards of honor and restraint the nation claims to uphold. Thank you.