NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia is set to appear in a courtroom in Maryland this morning just days as a federal judge granted a hearing on whether the human smuggling charges he faces are "illegally vindictive."
Abrego Garcia successfully sued the Trump administration over his deportation to El Salvador.
A U.S. District Court Judge has granted a request by lawyers for Abrego Garcia and ordered a hearing in Abrego Garcia’s effort to show that the federal human smuggling case against him in Tennessee is illegally retaliatory. The judge made it clear that Garcia showed that there is some evidence that the prosecution has against him may be vindictive.
That evidence included statements by various Trump administration officials and the timeline of the charges being filed. Abrego Garcia was indicted on May 21st and charged on June 6, which is the day the U.S. brought him from a prison in El Salvador back to the U.S. He pleaded not guilty and is now being held in Pennsylvania.
The human smuggling charges in Tennessee stem from a 2022 traffic stop.
He was not charged at the time, but if convicted in the Tennessee case, federal officials say he will be deported. A U.S. immigration judge has denied Abrego Garcia’s bid for asylum, although he can appeal.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at tony.sloan@newschannel5.com.
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