US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed criminal human smuggling charges against 30-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia on May 22, 2026, calling the prosecution vindictive and an abuse of prosecutorial power [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who came to the US illegally as a teenager around 2012 and lives in Maryland with his American citizen wife, was initially stopped by police in Tennessee in November 2022 carrying several passengers, but was not charged at that time [1, 9, 3, 4, 5]. He was deported to El Salvador in March 2025 by the Trump administration despite a 2019 immigration court order granting him protection from removal due to gang persecution risk [1, 9, 10, 4, 5]. Officials later admitted the deportation was a wrongful administrative error [10, 6, 8].
The US Supreme Court ordered the government to bring Abrego Garcia back to the US, which happened in June 2025 [1, 9, 4, 5, 8]. After his return, the Justice Department reopened the smuggling investigation and charged him, which his lawyers claimed was politically motivated retaliation for his successful deportation challenge [1, 2, 3, 10, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
Judge Crenshaw said the evidence "shows that, absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the government would not have brought this prosecution" and called it "an abuse of prosecuting power" [1, 3]. She referenced former Attorney General Robert H. Jackson’s warning against targeting individuals instead of crimes, concluding that was the government’s approach here [4]. Abrego Garcia entered a not guilty plea to the charges [1, 9, 5].
Despite the dismissal, officials have reportedly threatened to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country like Liberia where he has no ties, though details remain unclear [3, 5]. The Department of Justice called the ruling "wrong and dangerous" and announced it will appeal the dismissal, accusing the judge of placing politics above public safety [3, 7, 8].
The indictment alleged Abrego Garcia smuggled approximately 600 people annually from 2016 to 2025, but the case will now be reviewed on appeal [8].
Abrego Garcia said, "Justice is a big word and an even bigger promise to fulfill; and I am grateful that today, justice has taken a step forward" [6]. The next major development will hinge on the DOJ’s pending appeal of Judge Crenshaw’s dismissal.
