Americans may have to pay to bring back alleged members of foreign terrorist cartel to US
Alleged members of “foreign terrorist cartel” Tren de Aragua may be brought back to the US after their deportations in 2025, and it could come at taxpayers’ expense.US District Judge James Boasberg, who has repeatedly butted heads with the Trump administration, ordered the Trump administration Thursday to facilitate the return of 137 migrants deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, CECOT, in 2025. Boasberg stipulated in his ruling that the government pay for the migrants’ airfare back to the US, meaning taxpayers are likely footing the bill. Boasberg argued that it’s “unclear why Plaintiffs should bear the financial cost of their return in such an instance,” noting that “this situation would never have arisen had the Government simply afforded Plaintiffs their constitutional rights before initially deporting them.”The ruling comes as part of a nearly year-long saga during which the federal judge attempted to halt the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act in March 2025. The Supreme Court ultimately allowed the Trump administration to continue using the Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations in April but ordered that detainees receive notice and an opportunity to challenge allegations.Boasberg has since been wading through legal avenues with the men in El Salvador, issuing a ruling in December that the Trump administration denied them due process. It is unclear how many of the men will actually take the offer and return to the US, with Boasberg noting that the noncitizens “would be detained upon arrival” back to the US. Similar to Boasberg’s ruling, another federal judge this month ordered the Trump administration to pay for the return of three migrant families the judge ruled ICE unlawfully deported by a 2023 humanitarian parole settlement. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital Thursday in response to the ruling that the illegal aliens in El...