US judge dismisses criminal indictment against Kilmar Ábrego García | Kilmar Ábrego García
A U.S. judge on Friday dismissed criminal charges against Kilmar Ábrego García, finding that the Trump administration would not have tried him had he not objected to his high-profile deportation.
Ábrego García, who entered the United States without permission in the past, became a symbol of the Trump administration’s mass deportation drive last March when he was sent to El Salvador’s notorious counterterrorism megaprison known as Cecot. This was despite an earlier court order banning him from being sent back there due to the risk of persecution.
The White House had taken a hard line against the idea of bringing Ábrego García back to the United States, but only after the U.S. supreme court last June ordered the administration to facilitate that. However, he was brought back after prosecutors in the United States filed a criminal complaint accusing Ábrego García of human trafficking. Later, rumors emerged from the Trump administration that he would be deported to various African countries.
He pleaded not guilty in court and argued that the lawsuit was filed in retaliation for the government’s lawsuit seeking his deportation from El Salvador.
Ábrego García, 30, grew up in El Salvador and ran away at age 16 after a local gang extorted and terrorized his family, according to court records. He went to Maryland, where his brother lived as a US citizen, but did not have permission to stay.
Ábrego García found work in construction and met his future wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. After she became pregnant with his child in 2018, she moved in with him and his two children.
According to court records, Ábrego García went to Home Depot looking for a job as a laborer in March 2019 and was detained by local police.
More details coming soon…
Reuters contributed reporting
