Kilmar Abrego Garcia Asks Tennessee Judge To Dismiss 'Vindictive' Criminal Case
Source: Huff Post/AP
Feb 26, 2026, 12:11 PM EST
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia is at a Tennessee federal courthouse where his attorneys are trying to persuade a judge on Thursday to throw out human smuggling charges against him.
Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has galvanized both sides of the immigration debate, claims that the criminal prosecution is vindictive, pushed by officials from President Donald Trump’s administration to punish him after they were forced to bring him back to the United States.
While Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen, a court order from 2019 prevents him from being deported to that country. That’s because an immigration judge determined he faced danger in El Salvador from a gang that had threatened his family. Abrego Garcia, 30, immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager but has an American wife and child. He has lived and worked in Maryland for years under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
After he was deported to El Salvador last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration had to work to bring him back. He was eventually returned to the U.S. only to face criminal charges of human smuggling based on a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty.
Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kilmar-abrego-garcia-asks-tennessee-judge-to-dismiss-vindictive-criminal-case_n_69a07d8be4b059e1adf279fb
REFERENCE (has other earlier but recent references) - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143617576