DOJ pushes to revive criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia
The U.S. Justice Department is appealing a judge's decision to dismiss human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man previously deported to El Salvador. The case involves allegations of prosecutorial vindictiveness following the defendant's successful lawsuit against the government.
Why it matters
The case raises significant questions about the limits of prosecutorial power and the potential for political retaliation within the justice system.
The Justice Department is pushing to revive criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, telling a federal appeals court late Monday that a judge erred in his scathing ruling that called the case against the man mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison an "abuse of prosecuting power." The government is appealing the May ruling by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw that threw out charges of human smuggling against the Salvadoran national. The ruling amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of a Justice Department that under President Donald Trump has repeatedly been accused of targeting defendants for political purposes. Crenshaw found that Abrego Garcia would never have faced criminal charges had he not successfully sued the government over his 2025 deportation. The ruling was an embarrassment for the Trump administration, which only brought him back after securing a criminal indictment against him.
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