Overview
- The Department of Justice filed notice on June 22, 2026 to appeal a May 22 dismissal that cleared Kilmar Abrego Garcia of human smuggling and related counts.
- Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed the indictment after finding the prosecution was brought 'selectively and vindictive,' citing the timing of charges and public statements by senior DOJ officials.
- Federal prosecutors originally charged Abrego Garcia in June 2025 over a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop in which several passengers lacked identification and were released with a warning.
- Abrego Garcia had been mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador in March 2025 and later returned to the U.S., and the government continues parallel efforts to remove him to a third country such as Liberia.
- The appeal keeps the dispute alive over prosecutorial conduct and immigration strategy and will turn on the Sixth Circuit's review while deportation attempts proceed administratively.