DOJ appealing dismissal of human trafficking charges against Abrego Garcia

The Justice Department plans to appeal a federal judge’s decision to toss the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia after determining the case against the mistakenly deported man was vindictive in nature. The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw was a massive victory for Abrego Garcia, who was deported to a notorious Salvadoran megaprison for several months despite a 2019 order from an immigration judge barring his return to his native El Salvador. After months of pressure to return him, Abrego Garcia was brought back to the U.S. as the Trump administration announced he would face charges related to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. “The Court does not reach its conclusion lightly,” Crenshaw, an appointee of former President Obama who sits on the federal bench in Nashville, Tenn., wrote in the May ruling. “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,” he added at the time. Abrego Garcia was hit with two human smuggling charges........

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