Charges against formerly deported Kilmar Abgreo Garcia dismissed as vindictive prosecution – JURIST

Federal Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Friday dismissed criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, ruling that the charges were punitive for challenging his deportation last year.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March 2025, despite an October 2019 “withholding of removal” issued by the Board of Immigration. Garcia originally entered the United States irregularly after fleeing his home country, El Salvador, to escape the notorious Barrio 18 gang, which had threatened his family with death.

In March 2025, Garcia was stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers while driving home from work and arrested despite not having a warrant. The officers simply told Garcia that his status had changed, and he was promptly put on a plane bound for the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. His case received much media attention and was eventually brought to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that Garcia had to be returned to the United States.

Court documents later released revealed that Garcia had been arrested on March 12 under allegations of involvement with the gang MS-13, allegations denied by Garcia and his wife. Despite the April decision by the Supreme Court, Garcia remained incarcerated in El Salvador until June, when the Trump administration indicted him on charges of human trafficking in connection with a November 2022 traffic stop.

In March 2026, Garcia moved to dismiss the criminal charges against him, alleging vindictive prosecution. Vindictive prosecution can be made out when the government prosecutes a person in retaliation for exercising a legal right. This allegation is difficult to make out, but was done so successfully by Garcia. In the judgment, Judge Crenshaw wrote:

The Court does not reach its conclusion lightly. The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution. The Executive Branch closed its investigation on the November 2022 traffic stop. Only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights did the Executive Branch reopen that investigation. What the Government labels as “new evidence” was not new as a matter of law. The prosecutor’s subjective good faith does not cure the retaliatory taint.

In a statement published by We Are Casa, a community organizing group that has supported Garcia, Kilmar Abrego Garcia said about his case, “thank you to God, my attorneys, We are CASA, and everyone who has continued to support the fight for justice. Justice is a big word and an even bigger promise to fulfill, and I am grateful that today, justice has taken a step forward.”