Federal Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Friday dismissed filed criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia and ruled that the charges were punishment for challenging his deportation last year.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March 2025, despite immigration authorities issuing a “withdrawal of deportation” order in October 2019. Garcia originally entered the United States irregularly after fleeing his home country of 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. Officials simply informed Garcia that his status had changed, and he was immediately placed on a plane bound for the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. His case received widespread media attention and was eventually brought before the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that Garcia must be sent back to the United States.
Court documents were later released revealed that Garcia was arrested on March 12 on charges of involvement with the MS-13 gang; Garcia and his wife denied these allegations. Despite the Supreme Court’s decision in April, Garcia remained detained in El Salvador until June, when the Trump administration charged him with human trafficking in connection with a traffic stop in November 2022.
In March 2026, Garcia filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him vengeful prosecution. Vindictive prosecution occurs when the government prosecutes an individual in retaliation for exercising a legal right. This claim is difficult to debunk, but was successfully argued by Garcia. In the ruling, Judge Crenshaw wrote:
The court does not reach its conclusion lightly. The objective evidence here shows that without Abrego’s successful challenge to his deportation to El Salvador, the government would not have pursued this prosecution. The executive branch completed its traffic stop investigation in November 2022. Only after Abrego succeeded in asserting his rights did the executive reopen the investigation. What the government called “new evidence” was not legally new. The prosecutor’s subjective good faith does not cure the stain of retaliation.
In a statement released by We are CasaKilmar Abrego Garcia, a community organizing group that has supported Garcia, said of his case: “Thank God, my lawyers, 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 justice took a step forward today.”
