WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, May 22, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) vowed to appeal a federal judge's decision to dismiss human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, calling the ruling "wrong and dangerous."
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. threw out a two-count indictment in Tennessee against Abrego Garcia, ruling that the DOJ's actions amounted to "vindictive and selective prosecution" in violation of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause, according to Fox News.
Abrego Garcia was facing charges after allegedly conspiring to smuggle roughly 600 illegal immigrants into the U.S. annually, between 2016 and 2025, as stated by a cooperating witness. "Another activist judge has placed politics above public safety," a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News. "The judge's order is wrong and dangerous, and we will appeal."
The federal investigation was initially sparked by a November 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee and included suspected ties to MS-13 and human trafficking. The case became a constitutional standoff after the executive branch deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in March 2025 due to an alleged "administrative error."
In response, Abrego Garcia sued the government and the judicial branch. The Supreme Court unanimously ordered his return to be "facilitated" to the United States.
Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, noted that just days after the Supreme Court ruling, the Department of Homeland Security suddenly reopened a closed investigation into Abrego Garcia's 2022 traffic stop. Top DOJ officials, under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, then pushed for an indictment, according to court documents.
In his 32-page opinion, Crenshaw determined the DOJ's rapid pivot from closing the case to prosecuting Abrego Garcia was a direct retaliation for his successful civil lawsuit.
Calling it an "abuse of prosecuting power," the judge concluded "absent Abrego's successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution." As a result of the finding, Crenshaw formally dismissed the indictment and vacated Abrego Garcia's conditions of release.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, who flew to El Salvador in April 2025 to meet with Abrego Garcia after he was deported to the country's "Terrorism Confinement Center" megaprison, hailed the judge's decision.
"Today, a federal judge made clear what we have long known: the Department of Justice was engaged in a vindictive prosecution against Kilmar Abrego Garcia," Van Hollen said in a statement. "This decision is a strong repudiation of Trump’s lawless DOJ and a win for the Constitutional rights of everyone in our nation."
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