Boasberg Wants Illegal Venezuelans Back to the U.S.--On Our Dime.

In a full circle moment, and nearly one year after his infamous demand to return illegal Venezuelans already on plane out of U.S. airspace last year, Judge Boasberg again orders their return.

After nearly one year of trying every trick in the judicial book including threats to hold Trump officials in contempt, Judge James Boasberg finally did it; he officially ordered the return of Venezuelan nationals deported last year.

On Thursday morning, Boasberg, the Obama-appointed chief judge of the D.C. district court, issued another opinion filled with loathing for the Department of Justice mixed with sympathy for the 137 Venezuelans who were flown out of the country pursuant to President Trump’s Alien Enemies Act. The men, here illegally, also were accused of ties to Tren de Aragua, a multi-national crime racket now designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.

Accusing the Trump administration of telling him to “pound sand” related to his nonstop barrage of unreasonable demands to get the illegals back on American soil, Boasberg, who has acted as illegal Venezuelans’ personal guardian since the case first hit his docket on March 15, 2025, directed the government to provide for the physical return of those who currently reside in a third party country and to arrange remote hearings for those still in Venezuela so they can begin habeas proceedings. (The illegals were first sent to El Salvador for processing then flown to Venezuela. During a court hearing on Monday, the ACLU, which is representing the illegals in this case and several AEA lawsuits, informed the judge that some of their “clients” had left Venezuela.)

And Boasberg wants taxpayers to pay for it all.

A Hot Towel and Champagne Before We Take Off, Sir?

“[Mindful] of the flagrancy of the Government’s violations of the deportees’ due-process rights that landed [the illegal Venezuelans] in this situation, the Court refuses to let them languish in the solution-less mire Defendants propose,” Boasberg wrote in response to the administration’s level headed arguments against their return including the judicial branch’s overstepping into foreign affairs. “In other words, it is up to the Government to remedy the wrong that it perpetrated here and to provide a means for doing so. Were it otherwise, the Government could simply remove people from the United States without providing any process and then, once they were in a foreign country, deny them any right to return for a hearing or opportunity to present their case from abroad.”

Of course, the “right to return” not only is silly judicial gobbledygook—Boasberg routinely cites the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland papa “wrongly” deported to El Salvador, his home country, but was not removed under the Alien Enemies Act—those imaginary “rights” come with a price tag for American taxpayers. During a hearing on the matter Monday morning, Boasberg asked Lee Gelernt, the ACLU attorney representing the illegals, if he “would request a government plane” to return them. (I covered the hearing here on X.)

While not giving a direct answer, Gelernt unequivocally stated that “if they do come back, the government should pay for it.” His “clients” want to return to the U.S., Gelernt further claimed, “to clear their name.” Boasberg also advised Gelernt to force the government to prove the deportees were indeed members of TdA when they were removed, even mocking the idea that TdA gang members don’t have tattoos—an identifier the Trump administration routinely cites in filings as proof of membership.

To that end, and per usual, Boasberg gave Gelernt everything he wanted. By the end of the month, Gelernt must inform the court as to “the number of [illegal Venezuelans] who wish to travel independently to a U.S. port of entry or who wish to be flown from a third country to the United States for their court proceedings.” (They will be detained upon arrival, Boasberg said, although petitions for release undoubtedly are already in the works.) Forcing the government (U.S. taxpayers) to pay for their travel represented a “reasonable request,” Boasberg concluded. “It is unclear why [the illegal Venezuelans] should bear the financial cost of their return in such an instance.”

Might one suggest the well-funded ACLU, with $26 million in assets, foot the bill instead? Alternatively, the illegals could establish GoFundMe accounts similar to Abrego Garcia, who has raised $280,000 so far.

What Will a TdA Reunion in U.S. Custody Look Like?

In a rare moment of clarity, Boasberg acknowledged that “the situation in Venezuela remains in flux” and admitted that returning anyone still there would be nearly impossible—but nonetheless will permit those remaining in Venezuela to file another pleading “to show that the Proclamation under which they were deported unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act and/or that they are not members of Tren del Aragua and thus not subject to the Proclamation.” Remote hearings, Boasberg noted, will be the next step with “logistics of such hearings…determined at a future date.” One can only imagine what that will look like.

And in a full circle moment, Boasberg set a March 13 deadline for the DOJ to file a report “explaining how and when it will transport any Plaintiff seeking return to the United States from a third country. In that Status Report, the Government shall also inform the Court as to the feasibility of returning Plaintiffs still in Venezuela who wish to return for their proceeding.”

That date is two days shy of the one-year anniversary of Boasberg’s “return the planes” moment on the evening of March 15, 2025—an oral order that Boasberg insists to this day represents the Trump administration’s defiance of his wishes. Judge Boasberg will go to any extreme at any cost, including to American taxpayers, to win this fight against a president and a DOJ he despises.

The DOJ is expected, and warned as much in its latest filing, to ask Boasberg to put a hold on his own order pending appeal. (He won’t.) That leaves the DOJ to make yet another trip to the D.C. Circuit Court, which has already reversed Boasberg at least twice, to seek relief from Boasberg’s increasingly dangerous and costly grudge match.

Meanwhile, barely a peep from Republicans on moving forward with impeachment.