{"id":218652,"date":"2025-12-09T11:10:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?post_type=press_release&p=218652"},"modified":"2025-12-09T11:10:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:10:35","slug":"rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-for-legal-justification-of-deadly-boat-strikes","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-for-legal-justification-of-deadly-boat-strikes","title":{"rendered":"Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration for Legal Justification of Deadly Boat Strikes"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-218652","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"The filing comes after the government failed to respond to a FOIA request demanding urgent transparency over President Trump\u2019s illegal strikes ","date_and_time":"2025-12-09 11:00:00","featured_image":"","show_on_press_releases_landing_page":true,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"NEW YORK \u2013 The American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking the immediate release of an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion and other documents related to President Trump\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilian boats in international waters.\r\n\r\n\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 said Jeffrey Stein, staff attorney with the ACLU\u2019s National Security Project. <\/b>\u201cThe Trump administration must stop these illegal and immoral strikes, and officials who have carried them out must be held accountable.\u201d\r\n\r\nSince Sept. 2, the Trump administration has conducted at least 22 strikes, murdering at least 87 civilians, in clear violation of domestic and international law. Indeed, the U.S. military may not, under any circumstances, execute civilians who are merely suspected of smuggling drugs. The federal government must first pursue non-lethal measures like arrest and demonstrate that lethal force is an absolute last resort to protect against a concrete, specific, and imminent threat of death or serious physical injury. Despite bipartisan outrage over these plainly unlawful attacks, the Trump administration has said they will continue.\r\n\r\nThe groups are suing to force the disclosure of a legal opinion authored by OLC \u2014 a part of the Justice Department whose opinions are generally treated as binding within the executive branch \u2014 that apparently blesses the ongoing strikes as lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified \u201cdrug cartels.\u201d According to news accounts, the memo also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in these unlawful strikes from future criminal prosecution for what would otherwise simply be homicides.\r\n\r\nContrary to the government\u2019s public assertions, the United States is not, and could not be, in an armed conflict with Latin American drug cartels. Under international law, an armed conflict between a state and a non-state actor exists only<\/i> if the non-state actor is an \u201corganized armed group\u201d that is structured and disciplined like regular armed forces and<\/i> is engaged in \u201cprotracted armed violence\u201d against the state. There is no plausible argument that any drug cartel satisfies this test vis-a-vis the United States.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Trump administration is displacing the fundamental mandates of international law with the phony wartime rhetoric of a basic autocrat,\u201d said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights<\/b>. \u201cIf the OLC opinion seeks to dress up legalese in order to provide cover for the obvious illegality of these serial homicides, the public needs to see this analysis and ultimately hold accountable all those who facilitate murder in the United States\u2019 name.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Trump administration has repeatedly acknowledged the existence of the memo and continues to assert that their strikes are on \u201cfirm legal ground,\u201d yet they are still refusing to publicly release the OLC opinion that details their reasoning. In mid-November, the Trump administration allowed members of Congress and their staffs to read the opinion. Many found its analysis deeply troubling. Indeed, one senator remarked<\/a> that the opinion \u201cwould not constrain any use of force anywhere in the world. I mean, it is broad enough to authorize just about anything.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThe public deserves to know how the Trump administration is rubber-stamping the bombing of civilians in the Caribbean Sea, with no accountability,\u201d said<\/b> Ify Chikezie, staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union<\/b>. \u201cBy claiming that these attacks are legal while refusing to provide any evidence or rationale, Trump shows once again his disdain for basic transparency, human rights, and the rule of law. The courts must step in and order the administration to release these documents immediately.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe groups are asking the court to intervene because the government has not released any records in response to their request, despite urgent public interest in the OLC opinion and the Freedom of Information Act\u2019s (FOIA) clear statutory deadlines."}}],"drupal_node_id":"","email":"media@aclu.org","phone":"(212) 549-2666","address":{"address_1":"125 Broad Street","address_2":"18th Floor","city":"New York","state":"NY","zip_code":10004,"country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","issues":[46591,46761,46507,46511,46515],"press_releases_related_to_cases":[218654],"spokesperson":"","related_affiliates":[340],"related_content_documents":[218661],"related_content_publications":""},"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration for Legal Justification of Deadly Boat Strikes | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-for-legal-justification-of-deadly-boat-strikes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-for-legal-justification-of-deadly-boat-strikes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-for-legal-justification-of-deadly-boat-strikes\",\"name\":\"Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration for Legal Justification of Deadly Boat Strikes | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T16:10:35+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-for-legal-justification-of-deadly-boat-strikes\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. 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