A US federal judge on Friday dismissed criminal charges against Kilmar Ábrego García, concluding that the Trump administration would not have prosecuted him had he not challenged his controversial deportation.
Ábrego García, an undocumented immigrant, became a symbol of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign when he was sent to the notorious Cecot anti-terrorism prison in El Salvador in March last year. This occurred despite a prior court order barring his return there due to a risk of mistreatment.
The White House initially took a hardline stance against bringing Ábrego García back to the US, but ultimately did so in June last year after the US Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate his return. However, he was only repatriated after US prosecutors secured a criminal indictment charging him with people smuggling. The Trump administration then considered deporting him to various African countries.
Ábrego García pleaded not guilty in court and argued he was being prosecuted in retaliation for his lawsuit against the government demanding his return from El Salvador.
According to court records, Ábrego García, 30, grew up in El Salvador and fled at age 16 after a local gang extorted and terrorized his family. He arrived in Maryland, where his brother is a US citizen, but was not permitted to stay. He found work in construction and met his future wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. In 2018, he moved in with her and her two children from a previous relationship after she became pregnant with his child. In March 2019, Ábrego García was arrested by local police while seeking day labor work at a Home Depot store.
