{"id":4921,"date":"2025-12-10T00:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T00:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=4921"},"modified":"2025-12-10T00:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T00:12:08","slug":"aclu-files-lawsuit-seeking-legal-basis-for-trumps-caribbean-boat-strikes-donald-trump-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=4921","title":{"rendered":"ACLU files lawsuit seeking legal basis for Trump\u2019s Caribbean boat strikes | Donald Trump News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Trump\u2019s vessel strikes claim to combat drug trafficking, but experts argue their impact on drug flows is negligible.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/xUw9RW5W_400x400-1730824604.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 9 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">9 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Rights watchdog groups in the United States have filed a lawsuit seeking greater clarification on the legal rationale being used to justify the Trump administration\u2019s targeting of alleged drug trafficking vessels off Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the group\u2019s New York state affiliate NYCLU, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, seeks the release of an opinion from the internal Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which advises the executive branch on legal matters.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cThe public deserves to know how our government is justifying the cold-blooded murder of civilians as lawful and why it believes it can hand out get-out-of-jail-free cards to people committing these crimes,\u201d Jeffrey Stein, staff attorney with the ACLU\u2019s National Security Project, said in a press release. \u201cThe Trump administration must stop these illegal and immoral strikes, and officials who have carried them out must be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least 86 people have been killed since the Trump administration announced the first strike in early September, in what the president has depicted as a counter-narcotics effort. A total of 22 declared strikes have been carried out in the Caribbean, even though they are widely considered illegal under both international and US law, since drug trafficking is a criminal activity.<\/p>\n<p>The press statement by the groups says that they hope to force a disclosure from the OLC that \u201capparently blesses the ongoing strikes as lawful acts in an alleged \u2018armed conflict\u2019 with unspecified \u2018drug cartels\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>NYCLU staff attorney Ify Chikezie told Al Jazeera in a phone call that the lawsuit was filed after the State Department, Department of Defense, and OLC failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in defiance of legal requirements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that the public has the right to see the document justifying the administration\u2019s strikes,\u201d said Chikezie, adding that the government is trying to evade scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Legal experts roundly reject the administration\u2019s claim that drug trafficking constitutes an attack on the US and that alleged traffickers are therefore unlawful combatants who can be killed with military force. But despite their likely illegality, the Trump administration has pressed forward with more strikes and has stated that they will continue, sharing videos of small boats exploding after being struck on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Trump administration seems to be making up the idea that we are at war with someone somewhere, but these are ordinary civilians engaged in, at worst, criminal activity, so their killings are simply murder,\u201d said Chikezie.<\/p>\n<p>Some have also cast doubt on the administration\u2019s stated aim of combating drug trafficking, noting that the strikes have a minuscule impact on drug flows.<\/p>\n<p>The campaign also comes during a period of heightened US threats against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the Trump administration has accused of coordinating the activities of criminal groups despite internal US intelligence assessments that undercut that claim.<\/p>\n<p>The US has deployed a large contingent of forces to the region, including an aircraft carrier and thousands of troops, prompting speculation about a possible attack on Venezuela to topple Maduro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump\u2019s vessel strikes claim to combat drug trafficking, but experts argue their impact on drug flows is negligible. Published On 9 Dec 20259 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Rights watchdog groups in the United States have filed a lawsuit seeking greater clarification on the legal rationale being used to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}