Kilmar Abrego Garcia asks judge to toss smuggling case as vindictive

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are asking a federal judge in Tennessee on Thursday to dismiss the human‑smuggling charges against him, arguing the case is vindictive and driven by Trump‑administration officials who sought to punish him after being forced to bring him back to the United States.

Abrego Garcia, 30, is a Salvadoran citizen, but a 2019 immigration court ruling bars his return there. An immigration judge found he faced danger from a gang that had threatened his family. He came to the U.S. illegally as a teenager, has an American wife and child, and has lived for years in Maryland under ICE supervision.

What we know:

His case took a turn last year when he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador despite the court order protecting him. After the Supreme Court intervened, he was returned to the U.S. only to be charged with human smuggling tied to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty.

Body‑camera footage from that stop shows a calm exchange between Abrego Garcia and a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer who pulled him over for speeding. Nine passengers were in the vehicle, and troopers discussed their suspicions among themselves. But they ultimately let him go with only a warning.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw has already signaled concern about the case, writing that there is evidence the prosecution "may be vindictive." 

 

He cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that appeared to indicate the Department of Justice charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful-deportation case.

For months, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have fought prosecutors over whether officials like Blanche should be required to testify and what internal DOJ emails must be turned over. 

First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire has argued he alone made the decision to prosecute, claiming that the motives of other officials are irrelevant.

Crenshaw reviewed many of the disputed documents himself. In an order unsealed in late December, he wrote that some records "suggest not only that McGuire was not a solitary decision‑maker, but he in fact reported to others in DOJ and the decision to prosecute Abrego may have been a joint decision."