Next week will mark one year since the Trump administration carried out its first attack against an alleged drug trafficking boat, killing 11 people.
In that time, the U.S. military has blown up 68 boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 227 people.
These strikes have become almost routine, largely fading from the headlines. But we must not allow government-sanctioned murder to be normalized.
By definition, all of these strikes have targeted civilians, regardless of any of the victims’ alleged affiliation with drug trafficking. There is no legal or moral justification for summarily executing people, simply because they are suspected of committing a crime.
President Trump claims these strikes are part of an imagined “armed conflict” with a secret list of supposed “narcoterrorist” groups. Congress has not authorized any of this.
As FCNL’s Heather Brandon-Smith put it, “something isn’t war simply because the president says it is.”
The public has been left entirely in the dark about who exactly we are supposedly at war with.
Only a few victims have been publicly identified by journalists. What we know about them stands in stark contrast to the administration’s narrative.
“Those identified are predominantly from poor communities, and when connected to drug groups are recorded to be among the lowest ranked members,” as a new report from researchers at Air Wars explains.
This anniversary must be a moment of reflection and action, particularly as the administration is now expanding this campaign to land.
U.S. special forces are already operating inside Ecuador, and the administration says it plans to carry out strikes in several other Latin American countries.
On top of their immorality, these strikes are entirely ineffective, repeating the failed approaches of the “War on Drugs” and “War on Terror.”
Lawmakers have a responsibility to do everything they can, including exerting their constitutional war powers and power of the purse, to end this violent campaign.
Elsewhere
Mourning Michael Fuson
Michael Fuson, a dedicated volunteer leader at FCNL, tragically passed away while on vacation with his family. Michael served in many roles in his leadership at FCNL, including as a former clerk of General Committee and as assistant clerk until his passing.
As FCNL’s Stephen Donahoe said in his memorial of Michael: “We will miss his wise counsel, deep commitment to the mission of FCNL, and friendly smile.”
Congress Starts to Speak Up about Violence in Palestine
Violence against Palestinians has continued in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with killings, expulsions, and demolitions from settlers and the Israeli military. The U.S. Congress is starting to speak up.
This past week, Senate Democrats wrote a letter calling on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to intervene to stop the surge in settler violence. Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD) is also planning to force a vote on legislation requiring the State Department to investigate human rights abuses in the West Bank.
While much more is needed, these are positive steps, and Congress has a key role to play in enacting the accountability that is needed to make peace possible.
Termination of TPS for Haiti Leads to Deportation to Danger
Following the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, hundreds of thousands of people living in the U.S. lost their immigration status. Since then, the Trump administration has been destroying families, wrecking communities, deporting people back into danger, and glorying in the shame with disgusting and dehumanizing social media.
Earlier this year, FCNL diaspora organizer, Maggie Jean, wrote about her experience lobbying Senator Raphael Warnock (GA), pushing him to consider “solutions by Haitians, for Haitians.” Congress needs to intervene to stop this shameful violence.
March on Washington for Voting Rights
Today, on the 63rd anniversary of the original March on Washington, activists gathered again on the National Mall. The movement is calling for protection for voting rights as they are under attack with a Supreme Court ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act and the Trump administration attempting to interfere with states’ ability tomanage their elections with mail-in voting.
“We’ve been doing these marches for years,” Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the organizers said, “but this is probably the most important because this is the first year we are marching that the voting rights bill has been nullified by the Supreme Court.”
