Kilmar Abrego Garcia charges dropped, judge says Trump DOJ case vindictive

A federal judge in Tennessee on Friday dismissed human trafficking charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant whose mistaken deportation by the Trump administration became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s broader crackdown on immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw reigned Department of Justice’s investigation into Abrego Garcia “vengeful,” found that the government would not have filed the case if he had not objected to his deportation.

“Then-Attorney General Robert H. Jackson had long warned his fellow prosecutors about the danger of choosing the person first and the crime second,” Crenshaw wrote at the top of the 32-page decision. he wrote. “That’s the situation here.”

The Ministry of Justice plans to appeal, saying in a statement that “another activist judge puts politics above public safety. The judge’s decision is wrong and dangerous, and we will appeal.”

crenshaw He said records show the government closed the investigation into a traffic stop in Tennessee in November 2022 after Abrego Garcia was removed from the United States, but reopened it after Garcia sued the Trump administration over his removal to El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia’s legal team said: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a victim of a politicized, vindictive White House and its lawyers working in what used to be an independent Department of Justice.” MS NOW. “As this Administration continually erodes our democracy, we remain grateful for an independent judiciary that will impartially apply factual precedents.”

The ruling marks a major legal win for Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador in March 2025 despite a previous court order barring the U.S. government from sending him there because he could face persecution.

The Trump administration later brought Abrego Garcia back to the United States in June 2025 after the Supreme Court ordered authorities to facilitate Garcia’s return. But prosecutors first prepared a criminal complaint accusing him of human trafficking.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty and argued the charges were retaliation for his fight to return to the U.S. Crenshaw acknowledged that Trump caused a setback for the Justice Department in the closely watched immigration case.

In his decision, Crenshaw said the recording “does not explain the government’s change in position from removing Abrego and not prosecuting him to later prosecuting and not removing him,” adding that a “retaliatory taint” prompted the renewed investigation.

The judge also examined the role of senior Justice Department officials, writing that statements by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who now serves as attorney general, and the actions of Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh raised questions about the decision to reopen the investigation and seek an indictment.

“Objective and credible evidence indicates that the Principal Judge was involved in the investigation before McGuire,” Crenshaw wrote, referring to Robert McGuire, the U.S. attorney who led the investigation.

Crenshaw added that Singh’s involvement “touches on everything from the timing of the indictment to the content of the potential charges.”

Without bringing up Abrego Garcia, Trump continued to defend the aggressive immigration policies that made the case a flashpoint at his campaign appearance in Suffern, N.Y., where he spoke shortly after the charges were dropped.

“Illegal aliens are everywhere, people are being shot left and right,” Trump said on stage.

The White House postponed the Justice Department’s statement.