Justice Department asks court to reinstate criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia
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Justice Department Asks Court to Reinstate Charges
Wertynews.com – The Justice Department asks court to reinstate the criminal indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was deported to El Salvador in 2024 after winning a Supreme Court case challenging his removal. On Monday, the department filed a brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, urging judges to overturn a Tennessee district-court ruling that had dismissed the smuggling counts against Abrego Garcia.
How the Indictment Was Dismissed
In May, a federal district judge in Tennessee vacated the indictment, which had charged Abrego Garcia with illegally smuggling immigrants into the United States. The judge concluded that prosecutors brought the case as retaliation for Abrego Garcia’s successful legal challenge to his wrongful deportation. The ruling effectively ended the criminal case at the trial level, prompting the department to appeal to the circuit court.
The Department’s Appellate Argument
In its Monday filing, the Justice Department rejected the retaliation characterization. The brief insisted that career prosecutors had “multiple legitimate bases to prosecute” Abrego Garcia and that the decision to seek an indictment was grounded in evidence and law rather than personal animus.
A department news release reinforced the point:
“The decision to seek an indictment against Abrego Garcia for human smuggling was made by career prosecutors based on the evidence, the law, and their firm belief that there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Abrego Garcia had committed the offenses charged.”
The filing further argued that the May dismissal “marks a dramatic expansion of the power of courts to dismiss serious criminal charges based on subjective assessments of a prosecutor’s motivations,” a standard the department warned would chill future federal prosecutions.
Defense Attorneys Push Back
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys told CBS News the department’s release was “flat wrong.” They added that the indictment and prosecution were, in fact, vindictive, and that the evidence before the district court “established just that; and the proof was clear notwithstanding the DOJ’s refusal to call the actual decision makers, including AG [Todd] Blanche, to testify under oath.”
The team went further, stating: “This case was initiated vindictively and on instructions from the White House after our client successfully won his Supreme Court case.”
Origins of the Smuggling Counts
The two human-smuggling counts trace back to a November 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. State Highway Patrol officers pulled Abrego Garcia over and discovered multiple passengers riding in his vehicle. He entered a not-guilty plea, and the matter proceeded through the federal system until the district court’s May dismissal halted the prosecution.
A Parallel Deportation Fight in Maryland
Separately, Abrego Garcia is litigating a federal case in Maryland over the administration’s continued attempts to remove him from the country. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has indicated it wants to send him to Liberia, though a federal judge has temporarily stayed that deportation order while the case works through the courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What charges did the Justice Department ask the court to reinstate? Two counts of human smuggling, stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee in which officers found multiple passengers in Abrego Garcia’s vehicle.
Why were the charges originally dismissed? A Tennessee federal district judge ruled in May that prosecutors brought the indictment as retaliation for Abrego Garcia’s successful Supreme Court challenge to his wrongful deportation.
What is the current status of the case? The appeal is pending before the 6th Circuit. Meanwhile, a separate Maryland federal case addresses whether ICE can deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia; a judge has temporarily stayed that removal.
