Since early September, Trump administration officials have openly celebrated deadly military strikes on at least 7 boats in the Caribbean and now in the Pacific. International legal and human rights experts have widely denounced the attacks as "extrajudicial executions" and violations of international law.

Trump has already threatened a land invasion in Venezuela and reportedly authorized covert CIA operations in the country. 10,000 U.S. troops are now stationed in the Caribbean. The Center for Economic and Policy Research has launched a new blog with live updates to track U.S. aggression - check it out here.

Latin America experts warn that the true aim of the strikes and the military buildup off the coast of Venezuela is to provoke an armed conflict or otherwise topple the government there.

But the threat also goes far beyond Venezuela. Designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations in order to justify opening fire on civilians poses a risk to people across Latin America and here in the United States, too.

For helpful analysis on the regional context, check out this recent segment on Democracy Now!

These military strikes are also taking the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda to a dangerous new level. According to The Hill, when Trump was questioned about his authorization of CIA operations, he responded, “I authorized for two reasons really, number one they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America, they came in through the border.”

Organizations in the U.S. also worry that the Trump administration could use this manufactured conflict to further criminalize immigrants or designate them “alien enemies” in order to detain or deport them without due process, just as they did in April when they invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to send over 250 people to the notorious CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador, despite judicial orders.

Notably, the Trump administration recently ended Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela, a program designed to shield immigrants from deportation to countries in the midst of armed conflict or in the aftermath of natural disasters, while threatening military strikes against their home country.

Regardless of the Trump administration’s end goals, Congress can - and should - act immediately to halt the unauthorized use of military force. Failure to do so now will set a dangerous precedent throughout our hemisphere and around the world.

According to the Constitution, only Congress can declare war. Send an email to your Senators today or call their DC offices and leave a comment urging them to support the new War Powers Resolution to halt the Trump Administration's unlawful military strikes against Venezuela.