A US federal judge has dismissed an indictment against Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, ruling that the Justice Department only reopened a human smuggling investigation after he challenged his deportation. Judge Waverly Crenshaw stated that the case was driven by retaliation.

“The court does not reach its conclusion lightly,” Crenshaw wrote. “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.”

Abrego Garcia became a symbol of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal migration last year. He was sent to a mega prison in El Salvador despite a prior court order barring his return due to persecution risk, and was later brought back to the US after the Supreme Court intervened.

A 2019 immigration court order had protected Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador, citing danger from a gang targeting his family. Despite his return, Trump officials have vowed to deport him again to a third country.

Judge Crenshaw emphasized the timing of the charges as central to the “presumption of vindictiveness.” Homeland Security had closed the case after a 2022 traffic stop, but reopened it only after the Supreme Court ruled for Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador.

Source: www.aljazeera.com