On March 15, 2025, Donald Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation titled “Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua”

The Proclamation asserted that the TdA (Tren de Aragua) is “based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking.” The Proclamation ordered various actions, particularly detention and removal, against “all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older” who are members of TdA and are in the U.S. without permanent status.

The Trump administration itself thereby acknowledged that TdA members could be as young as 14, and that the gang engages in human trafficking.

Beginning on or about September 2, 2025, the U.S. military has aerially firebombed at least seven vessels in the Caribbean, alleging that the boats were South American drug smugglers heading to the United States. The attacks killed upwards of two dozen individuals. How could the U.S. have known for sure that those boats were involved in anything illegal? But even if they were gang-operated, those boats that were fireballed by U.S. forces may have contained innocent victims of human trafficking. In addition, some of the murdered gang members themselves may have been juveniles as young as 14, possibly themselves victims of duress or trafficking.

Even the summary execution of adult drug smugglers is murder, under U.S. and international law. How much more unlawful and immoral is the murder of innocent victims of human trafficking or the summary execution of adolescent gang members?

(Note: The Presidential Proclamation, by its own terms, did not apply to international waters, and did not explicitly authorize the use of lethal force.)

If you agree that the U.S. may have committed murder under international or domestic law, please sign my petition to the U.S. Congress for a full investigation of these deadly and unprecedented attacks: https://c.org/HkTRmn9Nsv  Thank you.