DOJ Vows To Appeal ‘Wrong and Dangerous’ Dismissal of Smuggling Charges Against Abrego Garcia

The Department of Justice is vowing to appeal a federal judge’s decision to dismiss human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, condemning the ruling as “wrong and dangerous.” The DOJ’s swift pushback follows a Friday order that threw out a two-count indictment in Tennessee, marking the latest development in a high-profile constitutional standoff.“Another activist judge has placed politics above public safety,” a DOJ spokesman told Fox News. “The judge’s order is wrong and dangerous, and we will appeal.”U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. dismissed the charges after concluding that the DOJ’s actions amounted to “vindictive and selective prosecution” in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause.“The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution,” Judge Crenshaw wrote in his 32-page memorandum opinion.Mr. Abrego Garcia was facing charges after a cooperating witness alleged he conspired to illegally smuggle some 600 foreigners into the United States annually between 2016 and 2025. The federal probe initially stemmed from a November 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, in which highway patrol officers let Mr. Abrego Garcia go with a warning despite suspecting smuggling activity.The legal battle escalated dramatically after the executive branch deported Mr. Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s “Terrorism Confinement Center” in March 2025, in what it later acknowledged was an “administrative error.” Mr. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who immigrated illegally as a teenager, had been protected from deportation by a 2019 court order due to gang threats against his family. He sued the government, and the Supreme Court unanimously ordered that his return to the United States be facilitated.Shortly after his return, the Department of Homeland Security reopened the closed 2022 traffic stop investigation. Top Justice Department officials, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, subsequently pushed for an indictment.Judge Crenshaw ruled that this rapid pivot was retaliatory. “Instead of investigating the November 2022 traffic stop to identify who was responsible for the human smuggling, Blanche started the investigation to implicate Abrego,” the judge wrote. “He did so to justify the Executive Branch’s decision to remove him to El Salvador.”Robert McGuire, who served as acting U.S. attorney when Mr. Abrego Garcia was charged, defended the indictment. “I was prepared for whatever was going to happen because I felt very confident that the defendant had committed a crime and I could prove it,” Mr. McGuire said.Mr. Abrego Garcia’s defense and political allies celebrated the dismissal. His lawyer, Sean Hecker, said his client “is a victim of a politicized, vindictive White House and its lawyers at what used to be an independent Justice Department. We are so pleased that he is a free man. Justifiably so.”Senator Chris Van Hollen, who visited Mr. Abrego Garcia in the El Salvador megaprison, also praised 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,” the Maryland Democrat 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.”

DOJ Vows To Appeal ‘Wrong and Dangerous’ Dismissal of Smuggling Charges Against Abrego Garcia

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