A federal judge in Nashville on Friday dismissed criminal human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran migrant at the center of a prolonged legal battle with the Trump administration over his deportation. U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. ruled in a 32-page opinion that the Justice Department's prosecution amounted to vindictive retaliation, finding that charges would not have been filed had Abrego García not successfully sued the government over his removal to El Salvador. Crenshaw also dismissed the conditions of Abrego García's pre-trial release as part of his ruling.

Crenshaw found sufficient evidence of "presumptive vindictiveness," pointing specifically to the timing of the indictment and the conduct of senior Justice Department officials. The judge wrote that the government closed its investigation stemming from a November 2022 Tennessee traffic stop after Abrego García was deported, only to reopen it after he prevailed in civil court. Crenshaw identified then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, now serving as acting attorney general, as having initiated the investigation to justify the administration's decision to deport Abrego García to El Salvador.

Abrego García was deported to El Salvador in March 2025 despite an existing immigration court order barring his removal there on the grounds he could face persecution. The Trump administration brought him back to the United States in June 2025 after the Supreme Court ordered officials to facilitate his return, but federal prosecutors had by then secured an indictment accusing him of accepting money to transport undocumented individuals within the country. The charges arose from a 2022 traffic stop in which Abrego García was pulled over for speeding and found to have nine passengers in his vehicle.

The Justice Department said it would appeal the ruling, calling the judge's order "wrong and dangerous" and characterizing Crenshaw as "another activist judge" who placed politics above public safety. Abrego García's defense attorneys said in a statement that their client "is a victim of a politicized, vindictive White House and its lawyers at what used to be an independent Justice Department." The ruling drew attention to a press conference last year at which then-Attorney General Pam Bondi touted the charges, declaring, "This is what American justice looks like."

Despite the dismissal, Abrego García's legal situation remains unresolved. Administration officials have threatened to deport him to several African countries, most recently Liberia, after being barred from returning him to El Salvador. With pre-trial release conditions now lifted, Abrego García may be free to travel to Costa Rica, which has publicly offered him asylum — an option he has expressed willingness to pursue but which the administration has so far refused to accept.