Almost exactly a year ago, construction worker Kilmar Ábrego García was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while driving home from work and in short order illegally deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison and tortured. Today, the U.S. government continues to victimize him for fighting against his deportation and its attempt to frame him up.
In June, the 30-year-old member of SMART Local 100 was returned to the U.S., a result of the support he had won and an order from the U.S. Supreme Court. But before the plane landed, Ábrego García was indicted in Nashville, Tennessee, on criminal charges of having engaged in “human smuggling” — crimes he insists he never committed.
The case is based on a traffic stop there over two years ago. After a discussion, the cops decided not to arrest him for anything, not even to give him a ticket.
On Feb. 26, Ábrego García was back in court in Nashville, accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Suarez Sura; members of CASA, the immigrant rights group that has defended him; the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition; and other supporters who crowded the courtroom. Ábrego García didn’t testify.
In December, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. canceled the criminal case against him, ordering an evidentiary hearing instead to decide whether Ábrego García was the target of “selective vindictive prosecution” by the Justice Department.
Ábrego Garcia’s lawyers explain the charges are retaliation against him that should be thrown out.
For more than two hours, former Acting U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire was questioned about emails, phone calls and meetings with Department of Justice and other officials, who insisted Ábrego García’s prosecution was a “top priority for us.” Despite the evidence, McGuire testified repeatedly that he alone made the decision to prosecute. “I did it,” he said.
But the more government witnesses testify, the more they undermine their own case. McGuire’s testimony couldn’t rebut the 3,000 pages of government documents Judge Crenshaw had unsealed that convinced him Ábrego García’s lawyers looked to be right. The documents show top Justice Department officials pressing McGuire to act, as well as McGuire’s willingness to comply. “We want the high command looped in. Happy to talk at any time,” McGuire told one Justice Department official.
Judge Crenshaw said he will rule within 30 days. No further hearings are scheduled.
“We heard many, many times over the past year that Kilmar will never walk a free man in this country ever again,” Ama Frimpong, CASA’s legal director, told reporters outside the court. “And what happened today? Kilmar walked inside this courtroom a free man, and he’s walking out a free man.”