The Other Vindictive Part of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Case |
Criminal Justice
The Other Vindictive Part of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Case
A judge last week threw out a criminal indictment against him on the grounds that it was tainted by vindictiveness. But that same spirit infects another part of his story that few people have discussed.
Billy Binion | 5.27.2026 5:17 PM
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia (Illustration: Adani Samat. Photo: Carol Guzy/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom)
The criminal prosecution against Kilmar Abrego Garcia—the Salvadoran national whose story became a flashpoint last year in the immigration debate—must be dismissed, a federal judge ruled last week, finding it had been tainted unconstitutionally by vindictiveness. The Justice Department, vowing to appeal, said in a statement that "another activist judge has placed politics above public safety."
It is an ironic accusation. Abrego Garcia may be guilty of smuggling people across the border. But the indictment against him, in connection with a 2022 traffic stop and ensuing investigation that had been closed without charges, was always about politics above public safety. It is not a mystery. The confirmation came from the Trump administration itself, in ways that extend beyond the scope of the ruling. Most revealing is that he could likely have been deported long ago.
Abrego Garcia emerged as a symbol of illegal migration, and the federal government's approach to combating it, in March 2025 after the administration........