U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed the Justice Department’s felony human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday, ruling that the government pursued the case not because of legitimate law enforcement concerns but because Abrego Garcia had successfully challenged his mistaken deportation to El Salvador the previous year.
“The evidence before this court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power,” Crenshaw wrote in his order granting the motion to dismiss for selective or vindictive prosecution. “Without Abrego Garcia’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the government would not have brought this prosecution.”
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. The Trump administration touted the charges at a high-profile press conference last year, with then-Attorney General Pam Bondi declaring, “This is what American justice looks like.”
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant living in Maryland, was deported in 2025 after authorities disregarded a court order staying his removal. He sued the government and eventually returned to the United States. Several months later, federal prosecutors indicted him on a human smuggling charge that stemmed from years earlier—a charge his lawyers argued was a direct retaliatory move.
Crenshaw’s decision marks the second time in two years that a federal judge has found the Trump administration improperly targeted an immigrant defendant, adding to growing judicial pushback against what critics describe as the weaponization of immigration enforcement for political ends. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.