Federal Judge Dismisses Human Smuggling Case, Citing Vindictive Prosecution
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Federal Judge Dismisses Human Smuggling Case, Citing Vindictive Prosecution
- A federal judge on Friday dismissed human smuggling charges against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, ruling the prosecution was a vindictive effort to punish him for challenging his wrongful deportation.
- U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. found that the Justice Department would not have brought the criminal case against Abrego Garcia without his successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador in March 2025.
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A federal judge in Tennessee on Friday, May 22, 2026, dismissed a human smuggling case against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man whose prior deportation had sparked a legal battle with the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. ruled that the Justice Department’s pursuit of criminal charges was a vindictive attempt to punish Abrego Garcia for successfully challenging his mistaken deportation.
Abrego Garcia was initially deported to El Salvador in March 2025, despite a 2019 immigration court order granting him protection from removal due to threats from a gang in his home country. This deportation became a flashpoint, with the Trump administration facing scrutiny and a Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 that mandated officials “facilitate” his return to the U.S. He was returned to the U.S. in June 2025, but immediately faced a two-count indictment for human smuggling, stemming from a November 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where authorities alleged he was transporting nine undocumented immigrants.
The judge’s decision noted that the investigation into the 2022 traffic stop had been previously closed and was only reopened after Abrego Garcia’s successful legal challenge to his deportation. Judge Crenshaw, appointed by President Barack Obama, concluded that the evidence “sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power