Judge drops criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A federal judge says the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported last year is being prosecuted for political reasons.

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Abrego Garcia, whose deportation became a major flashpoint in the debate over the Trump administration's immigration agenda, returned to the US in June after the government admitted it had wrongfully sent him back to his native country.

After his return, federal prosecutors charged him with human smuggling over a 2022 incident in Tennessee where he was found to have several people in his car during a traffic stop. He pleaded not guilty.

On Friday, the federal judge dismissed the case and said Abrego Garcia had been charged for political reasons.

"The Court does not reach its conclusion lightly," US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw wrote in her opinion.