DOJ Seeks Reinstatement of Criminal Charges Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The department accused a district court of interfering with the executive branch’s authority and duty to protect the public from potential threat.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at the federal courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 26, 2026. AP Photo/George Walker IV

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an opening brief on Aug. 17 seeking to reinstate human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia after a district court found the prosecution to be vindictive.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. dismissed the charges against Abrego Garcia on May 22, ruling that prosecutors brought the case against him in retaliation for his legal challenge to his wrongful removal to El Salvador last year.

In an Aug. 17 brief, the DOJ asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to reverse the ruling, saying the prosecution against the Salvadoran national was made “based on the evidence, the law, and [prosecutors’] firm belief that there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Abrego Garcia committed the crime.

“The government believed that Abrego had committed human smuggling, that he was ‘a member of the gang MS-13, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and that his return to the United States would pose a threat to the public,’” the DOJ said in the brief.

“Although his deportation had removed that threat and supported closing the criminal investigation, the deportation now had to be undone, at least temporarily. So the United States had a clear legitimate interest in prosecuting Abrego upon his return.”

The department said the lower court ruling marked “a dramatic expansion of the power of courts” to dismiss serious criminal charges based on subjective assessments of a prosecutor’s motivations and accused the district court of interfering with the executive branch’s authority and duty to protect the public from potential threat.

The Epoch Times reached out to Abrego Garcia’s legal representative for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Abrego Garcia, who illegally entered the United States in 2011 and stayed in Maryland, was accused of being a member of a foreign terrorist organization, the MS-13 gang. He was deported to El Salvador in March 2025 alongside other deportees despite a 2019 immigration court having issued a withholding of removal—which legally barred his deportation to his home country—because of concerns for his safety.

The Salvadoran national was subsequently returned to the United States in June 2025 under a Supreme Court order after the DOJ acknowledged an administrative error in his deportation.

He later faced charges of immigrant smuggling stemming from a 2022 traffic stop, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Abrego Garcia has also denied claims that he was a member of MS-13.

Crenshaw ultimately dismissed the human smuggling charges in May, saying that objective evidence has shown that “absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the government would not have brought this prosecution.” The DOJ appealed the dismissal in June.

Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.