Federal judge dismisses human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. said prosecutors brought the case only after Kilmar Abrego Garcia won his wrongful-deportation challenge, citing evidence of retaliation.
- On Friday, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. dismissed the federal human-smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, ruling the Trump Justice Department engaged in selective or vindictive prosecution.
- Crenshaw found that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche initiated the investigation to justify the executive branch's removal decision, stating, "Blanche started the investigation to implicate Abrego. He did so to justify the Executive Branch."
- A Department of Homeland Security agent testified the probe began only after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to return Abrego Garcia from El Salvador in April 2025, despite the 2022 traffic stop resulting in only a warning.
- The defendant's deportation to El Salvador last year violated a 2019 immigration court order granting him protection, and Crenshaw noted the prosecution would not have occurred without the lawsuit challenging his removal.
- Despite the dismissal, Trump administration officials maintain that Abrego Garcia cannot remain in the United States and have vowed to deport him to a third country, most recently identifying Liberia as the destination.
92 Articles
92 Articles
An American judge put an end on Friday to criminal proceedings against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant whose judicial saga with the American authorities had become for many the symbol of the policy of mass expulsion ordered by Donald Trump.
Nashville judge dismisses case against Abrego Garcia as 'vindictive'
A federal judge has cleared Kilmar Abrego Garcia of all charges. The court found that the government’s case against the Maryland man only came after his deportation gained national attention. Immigration officials deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador last March, despite a court order that he remain in the U.S. over fears of gang violence in his native country. His case became a galvanizing force for critics of the Trump administration’s hardlin…
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