The Maryland man was charged with human smuggling after a high-profile legal fight in which courts ruled he had been illegally deported to El Salvador.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/05/22/judge-drops-criminal-case-against-kilmar-abrego-garca-ruling-it-vindictive
A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s human-smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego García on Friday, ruling that the Trump administration improperly brought it to punish him for successfully challenging his illegal deportation last year.
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. in Tennessee wrote that “evidence before this Court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power.”
The decision delivered an extraordinary defeat for the administration, which marshaled the resources of multiple federal agencies to publicly malign Abrego after court rulings concluded that officials had unlawfully deported him to his native El Salvador, in violation of a 2019 immigration court order.
Crenshaw’s ruling also marked the first time a judge has validated what has become an increasingly common defense raised by high-profile defendants targeted by the Justice Department in Trump’s second term: the claim that they are being prosecuted not in pursuit of justice but rather for political revenge.
In his decision, the judge acknowledged the incredibly high bar defendants must meet to warrant a case’s dismissal on those grounds. It requires defense attorneys to prove that charges would not have been brought but for improper, vindictive motives on the part of government attorneys......
Despite Crenshaw’s decision, U.S. immigration authorities have previously signaled they still intend to deport Abrego, 31 — who entered the country illegally from El Salvador as a teen. But their ability to do so has been temporarily blocked by a federal court ruling from Maryland, where Abrego lives with his wife, a U.S. citizen, and children.
The feds will still try to deport Abrego
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