A federal judge in Tennessee has dismissed a human smuggling case against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia without a trial. The judge concluded that the government brought the charges as retaliation for Garcia's legal battle against his deportation.
Garcia, a Maryland man and Salvadoran migrant, had previously challenged his removal from the United States. Courts had ruled that he had been illegally deported to El Salvador.
The judge found that Trump's DOJ targeted Garcia, noting that the human smuggling probe was reopened after the Salvadoran national filed his lawsuit against the mistaken deportation.