A US federal judge has dismissed the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last year. The judge ruled Friday that the charges of human smuggling were brought for political reasons, intended to justify the government’s decision to deport him.
Abrego Garcia, whose deportation became a significant point of contention in the debate surrounding the Trump administration’s immigration policies, returned to the US in June after the government acknowledged its error. Following his return, federal prosecutors charged him with human smuggling related to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where multiple individuals were found in his vehicle. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Background of the Case
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 30-year-old married to a US citizen and a long-term resident of Maryland, initially entered the US illegally from El Salvador as a teenager. In 2019, he was apprehended by federal immigration authorities. A judge granted him protection from deportation at that time, citing a risk of persecution by a gang in his home country.
Despite this protection, the Trump administration deported him to El Salvador in March 2025. This action led to a US Supreme Court order compelling the government to bring him back to the United States. Upon his return, he was held for months in CECOT, a notorious El Salvadoran megaprison, only being brought back after the government secured human trafficking charges against him.
The Dismissal and Judicial Reasoning
Upon his arrival back in the US last June, Abrego Garcia was arrested and transported to Tennessee to face the human smuggling charges. His legal team subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that he was a victim of vindictive prosecution by the Justice Department.
US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw detailed her reasoning in her written opinion. She stated that the prosecution was initiated solely to validate the government’s earlier decision to deport Abrego Garcia. The judge found that the Trump administration failed to overcome the
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