Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a mistakenly deported man from El Salvador, is moving to dismiss his criminal case in Tennessee, arguing that he was the subject of a vindictive and selective prosecution by the Trump administration. Abrego’s attorneys argue that the government’s vindictive and selective prosecution was due to his refusal to acquiesce in the government’s violation of his due process rights. They believe that Abrego won the case due to the government’s concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back rather than accept a brutal injustice.
Abrego Garcia was protected from removal to his native El Salvador in 2019 by an immigration judge but was sent to a notorious megaprison in the country. After months of legal battles, Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. to face criminal charges. He is currently facing human trafficking charges related to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, during which he was pulled over for speeding and seen transporting men without luggage. The indictment alleges that Abrego Garcia falsely told the officer he was driving construction workers from St. Louis, but he was actually on one of his trips transporting migrants without legal status.
The filing also relies heavily on whistleblower disclosures of the fired Justice Department attorney, Erez Reuveni, which show Trump administration officials looking for ways to cast Abrego Garcia as a gang member even as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials struggled to do so.
