Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration for Legal Justification of Deadly Boat Strikes

The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration’s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged “armed conflict” with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

WASHINGTON — Human rights groups today sent a letter urging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end immigration detention at Camp East Montana, a massive tent camp at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. Advocates summarized in their letter accounts of horrific conditions, including beatings and sexual abuse by officers against detained immigrants, beatings and coercive threats to compel deportation to third countries, medical neglect, hunger and insufficient food, and denial of meaningful access to counsel, among other rights violations. The letter comes just weeks after Rep. Veronica Escobar warned that people detained at Ft. Bliss were given foul-tasting drinking water, rotten food, and inadequate healthcare. The letter follows months of interviews with more than 45 detained people at Ft. Bliss and is accompanied by 16 sworn declarations by immigrants detained at the facility. Numerous detained people told lawyers that officers have engaged in a widespread and unreasonable pattern and practice of excessive force, including the use of abusive sexual contact by officers when utilizing force. One detained teenager using the pseudonym “Samuel” told lawyers he was beaten by officers so severely he sustained injuries across his body, lost consciousness, and had to be taken to a hospital in an ambulance. The letter relays Samuel’s account that his right front tooth broke from the force of being slammed to the ground, and as Samuel attests, one officer “grabbed my testicles and firmly crushed them,” while another “forced his fingers deep into my ears.” Samuel went on to say that while he was feeling “dizzy” and was “fighting to remain conscious,” an officer laughed at Samuel for having a chipped tooth after being slammed to the ground and told Samuel he was “like a little girl.” Samuel said that weeks after the beating, damage to his left ear is so severe that he now has trouble hearing. In their letter, the groups also reiterate their calls to immediately halt deportations of people to third countries to which they have no genuine ties. Interviewees said that at Ft. Bliss, the prospect of such removals has taken on a particularly abusive character. People detained attested that officers at Ft. Bliss have beaten detained people and used the threat of violence, criminal charges, and imprisonment in attempts to coerce non-Mexican immigrants held at Ft. Bliss to cross the border into the Mexican desert. Isaac, a Cuban immigrant held at Ft. Bliss, attested in a sworn declaration that officers told him that he was going to be deported to Mexico. Isaac told lawyers that, “the guards hit my head” and “slammed it against the wall approximately ten times.” He also said that officers grabbed and crushed his testicles between their fingers, and that soon after, officers handcuffed Isaac and approximately 20 other people, placed them on a bus, and drove them to the border, where they were informed they could get off the bus and cross into Mexico. Isaac added that officers told them “If we don’t want to go to Mexico, then we would either be sent to a jail cell in El Salvador or Africa.” Isaac is also using a pseudonym to protect his identity. The letter – which was signed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Mexico, ACLU of Texas, Estrella del Paso, Human Rights Watch, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, and Texas Civil Rights Project – also follows widespread media coverage detailing abusive conditions. In September 2025, a Washington Post report noted that a leaked internal ICE inspection found the Ft. Bliss facility violated over 60 federal detention standards in the first 50 days of its opening. The Trump administration hastily opened the sprawling tent camp in August 2025, despite warnings from members of Congress and advocates that the facility would be a humanitarian disaster. The facility is located on the military base formerly used to intern people of Japanese descent during World War II and currently holds over 2,700 people, making it the country’s largest immigration detention center. The full letter to ICE is available here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/ice-letter-re-fort-bliss The declarations are available here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/fort-bliss-declarations-december-2025

AP report reveals how the agency uses AI and mass surveillance across the nation to target, detain, and seize money from innocent drivers

WASHINGTON — Forty-one veterans from across the country spent Tuesday on Capitol Hill, urging members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to defend the Constitution and make clear that troops do not belong on our streets. This day of action was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Chamberlain Network, Common Defense, Veterans for American Ideals, and Veterans For Peace. Veterans met with 14 Republican and 27 Democratic members from the House and the Senate, including senior leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, as well as members who themselves served in the military. They spoke about their personal experiences in the military and why using the military for domestic law enforcement puts service members, communities, and our democracy at risk. The veterans also urged members to co-sponsor two bills that would reinforce the separation of the military from domestic law enforcement: the Military in Law Enforcement Accountability Act in the Senate and the National Guard Proper Use Act in the House. “I've served in law enforcement, corrections, and combat roles in the military and understand that the blurring of these lines for our troops causes tremendous problems for our democracy and our Constitution,” said Jackie Robinson, a former Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army from Mississippi. “As a veteran who has been deployed twice, I feel a responsibility to push back on this administration's undermining of the oath I took. President Trump is abusing his power. In the meetings with members of Congress today, I'm glad I had the opportunity to push them to do more to make sure troops are not deployed to our communities or used against our neighbors.” The Military in Law Enforcement Accountability Act, led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) will draw a necessary brighter line between the military and civilian law enforcement, enhance oversight of these operations, and strengthen identification requirements for federal forces when they are deployed into U.S. cities. On the House side, the National Guard Proper Use Act, which was introduced by Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), would reinforce long standing legal restrictions on the president’s ability to deploy the National Guard for immigration and domestic law enforcement purposes. “Every member of Congress should be able to stand four-square for an apolitical military focused on defending Americans, not policing them, and nobody speaks more powerfully to that value than those who have worn the uniform,” said Mike Zamore, the national director of policy & government affairs at the ACLU. “Veterans have come from across the country as another act of service to their oath to defend the Constitution and to urge Congress to be just as decisive in defending our rights and freedoms regardless of which party is in power. Forcing troops to face off against their fellow Americans is bad for the public’s trust in the military, bad for our neighbors who want to exercise their rights, and bad for the men and women in uniform.” Courts have so far blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to federalize state National Guard troops and deploy them to Chicago and Portland over the objections of their governors, however he has sent troops to Memphis, with the Tennessee governor’s agreement, and is still threatening other cities, including New York City, Baltimore, and Charlotte. The government has also asked the Supreme Court to affirm its attempt to federalize and deploy troops to Chicago, claiming that troops can be deployed on the president’s say-so alone and courts have no role in reviewing his actions. The following are additional quotes from the organizers: “Deploying military forces to American cities absent a real emergency is a misuse of power. It undermines civilian control, weakens our democracy, and places both communities and service members in harm’s way. The National Guard’s mission is to help in real emergencies, like rescuing neighbors from floods, fighting forest fires, and serving overseas in defense of the nation. These deployments are doing serious damage to our military and the democratic institutions they swore to defend,” said Chris Purdy, U.S. Army veteran and founder of the Chamberlain Network. “I'm proud to join nearly 40 fellow veterans from across the country in this day of action on Capitol Hill, urging members of Congress from both parties to reassert the separation between our armed forces and domestic policing. Putting soldiers in American cities erodes the hard-earned trust the National Guard has built with the public through community service, undermines military readiness, and endangers innocent people. We have seen how such actions can escalate tensions, divide society, and distract from real threats, both at home and abroad,” said Naveed Shah, U.S. Army veteran and Political Director for Common Defense. “An apolitical military is essential to the health of our democracy,” said Gretchen Klingler, an Air Force veteran and Director of Veterans for American Ideals. “That is why I am standing beside my fellow veterans on Capitol Hill today. The faith that our communities have in our service members is a sacred trust built on the understanding that they serve the Constitution, not a political party or politician. When troops are sent into American cities for partisan purposes, that trust is violated. Our service members are not political props, and we are here to remind our legislators that our military must be used ethically, responsibly, and only in ways that reflect our democratic values.” “I’m here in DC because I am angered and deeply concerned about the government’s use of the National Guard and active-duty military to police our communities. Service members are trained for overwhelming force, not civilian law enforcement. Deploying them in our neighborhoods endangers both the troops and the public, increases the risk of civil-rights violations, and stokes fear in the very communities our government is supposed to protect. It undermines our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” said Michael McPhearson, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace. Photos of the day, taken by Will Martinez, can be found here. Other photos, including those of veterans on Capitol Hill, are available upon request.