US judge dismisses human smuggling indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia
US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled that the Department of Justice would not have pursued charges against the Salvadoran national had he not successfully challenged his removal to El Salvador.
A US federal judge has dismissed the human smuggling indictment against Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, determining that the prosecution was initiated in retaliation for his legal challenge against deportation. US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled on Friday that the Department of Justice would not have pursued charges had Abrego Garcia not successfully challenged his removal to El Salvador.
Crenshaw stated that "objective evidence" demonstrated the government would not have brought the prosecution absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit. The indictment stemmed from a 2022 traffic stop, which Homeland Security had previously closed when they deported Abrego Garcia. The case was reopened only after the US Supreme Court ruled that Abrego Garcia be returned from El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia became a symbol for President Donald Trump’s drive to clamp down on illegal migration last year. He was sent to a mega prison in El Salvador despite a prior court banning him from being returned there due to a risk of persecution. His deportation had violated a 2019 immigration court order that granted him protection against being returned to his home country after a judge found that he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family.
While the Trump administration brought Abrego Garcia back to the US in June of the same year, his return came only after prosecutors had secured a criminal indictment charging him with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to the claim and argued that he was being prosecuted in retaliation for suing the government to be returned to the US from El Salvador.
In the ruling to dismiss the indictment, Crenshaw wrote that the timing of the charges was central to the “presumption of vindictiveness”. With Homeland Security already aware of the traffic stop two years ago and having closed the case against Abrego Garcia when it deported him, the case was only reopened once the US Supreme Court had ruled that he be returned from El Salvador.
Despite his return to the US and his family, Trump officials have said that Abrego Garcia cannot remain in the country and have pledged to deport him again to a third country, a country where the person does not have any ties. The specific identity of the third country has not been disclosed, leaving the long-term legal status of Abrego Garcia uncertain.
