A federal judge dismissed criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday, ruling that the Justice Department's prosecution of the Maryland man was vindictive and politically motivated. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville found that the government would not have brought the human smuggling case without Garcia's successful legal challenge to his mistaken deportation.

Garcia was charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Police stopped Garcia for speeding and found nine passengers in his vehicle, leading to suspicions of smuggling. However, he was initially released with only a warning, and Homeland Security had closed the case when he was later deported.

The case was reopened after Garcia successfully challenged his deportation to El Salvador, which violated a 2019 immigration court order granting him protection from removal due to gang threats in his home country. Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child, had been living in Maryland for years under Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervision following the court's protection order.

Judge Crenshaw found evidence of "presumptive vindictiveness" in the prosecution, citing the timing of the indictment after Garcia's successful deportation challenge and statements by top Justice Department officials. The judge wrote that "the evidence before this court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power" and that the case was "thoroughly tainted."

The Justice Department announced it would appeal the dismissal, calling the judge's order "wrong and dangerous." Garcia's deportation had become an embarrassment for the Trump administration when courts ordered his return to the United States. Despite the criminal case dismissal, his immigration status remains uncertain, with officials reportedly considering deportation to African countries including Liberia.