US seeks to revive criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

What the report says

The Trump administration is asking a federal appeals court to restore criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man whose wrongful deportation drew attention to US immigration enforcement. According to Al Jazeera, the Justice Department filed its request on Monday with the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to overturn a lower-court ruling that accused prosecutors of retaliating against him.

US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw previously dismissed the indictment, saying there was evidence of “presumptive vindictiveness” and describing the prosecution as an abuse of prosecutorial power. The judge found the charges appeared to follow the administration’s embarrassment after it admitted Abrego Garcia had been wrongly deported to El Salvador despite a 2019 immigration judge order recognizing his fear of persecution there.

Abrego Garcia was later returned to the United States, where prosecutors accused him of human trafficking. The government has continued to contest efforts to keep him in the country and, as reported by Al Jazeera, has also sought to deport him to Liberia, a country with which he has no connection. Abrego Garcia has said he is willing to go to Costa Rica instead.

The case has become a broader test of how the administration handles immigration enforcement, criminal prosecution and court oversight, especially after a public error by immigration authorities.