Families of Trinidadian men killed in US boat strikes demand accountability

The Trump administration has killed at least 239 people in boat attacks that have been condemned as extrajudicial killings.

The families of two men who disappeared from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago marked the one-year anniversary of their disappearance by demanding answers from the United States.

Since September of last year, the US military has been conducting a campaign of raids on small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific on the basis that they were carrying "drug terrorists".

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But critics have called the boat attacks an illegal campaign of extrajudicial killings.

On Wednesday, the families of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaro issued a statement in memory of the two men, who they say were killed in a U.S. boat attack on Oct. 14, 2025.

The families are currently pursuing a wrongful-death lawsuit in Massachusetts sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). They have argued that Joseph and Samaro were fishermen and farm workers, not drug traffickers.

Lenore Burnley, Joseph's mother, said: "The past year without Chad in our lives has been devastating. Chad was the heart of our family. He was loving, generous and caring and always there for us. We all miss him terribly."

"One year later, we are still grieving and seeking justice for his death. We will always mourn Chad's loss, but hope this lawsuit is a step towards justice for him and his family.

Four others were killed in the attack on October 14, 2025, when a missile hit a ship returning from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago.

Samaro and Joseph were working in Venezuela to support their families, the families said.

Both men contacted their families two days before traveling to the islands. There was no news of them.

The boat strike campaign launched under US President Donald Trump has killed at least 239 people since September 2025.

But the US government has provided little evidence to support its claim that the plane's passengers were drug smugglers. It has also not publicly identified the victims.

In several cases — from Colombia to Ecuador to Trinidad and Tobago — relatives have come forward to say their loved ones were among the dead, and that they were fishermen with no connection to the drug trade.

Separately, the family of Colombian fisherman Alejandro Carranza filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accusing the Trump administration of violating his right to life when his boat was bombed on September 15, 2025.

Samaro and Joseph's lawsuit was filed in January and is pending in US federal court in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Not a day goes by when our family doesn't think of our brother Rishi Kurasingh, Samaru's youngest sister," Salikar said.

"Rishi was a good person loved by his family and community. The past year without him in our lives has been heartbreaking. My brother and family deserve justice. We will continue to fight for the accountability and responsibility we deserve."

Legal scholars have noted that even if those killed were involved in criminal activity, strikes still constitute unlawful killings.

Under international law, the use of military force to enforce civilian law is generally illegal. Drug trafficking is not considered an act of war, but a civilian crime.

"For a year, our clients have been forced to live without their loved ones and without justice in the name of President Trump's campaign of extrajudicial killings," said Jeff Stein, staff attorney for the ACLU's National Security Project.

This group, together with the Constitutional Rights Center, is responsible for representing the families in their complaints.

"These illegal attacks at sea have destroyed countless families, terrorized communities and made us all less safe," Stein said. We will not stop fighting for accountability. "We call on congressional and executive branch leaders to finally end this illegal campaign before anyone else is killed."