Kilmar Abrego Garcia is still walking around the country freely, as we reported that a judge had ruled that the Maryland man can't be taken back into immigration custody. There's just no getting rid of this guy. Last September, ICE said Abrego Garcia was bound for Uganda, but after Abregp Garcia said he was “fearful” of persecution in Uganda and 20 other countries, ICE settled on the African country Eswatini. As of October, Abrego Garcia’s final order of removal stood as a judge denied a motion to reopen his case. He's still here.
Not only is he still here — a judge was to hear arguments on Thursday over whether the government was being "vindictive" in pursuing a human trafficking case against Abrego Garcia.
In a pivotal court hearing, prosecutors must convince a federal judge that their decision to charge the 31-year-old undocumented immigrant and Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego García in a yearslong human trafficking case was not made to punish him. https://t.co/7mHiJUVS6S
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 26, 2026
If he's guilty of human trafficking, then yes, the point is to punish him.
A federal judge in Tennessee will hear arguments Thursday over whether the government is being vindictive in pursuing a human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. https://t.co/a37FXjK4ZT
— ABC News (@ABC) February 26, 2026
Laura Romero reports for ABC News:
The acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, testifying Thursday at a hearing on whether the government is being vindictive in pursuing a human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, said that no one from the White House or the Department of Justice made the decision to seek an indictment against the Salvadoran native.
The hearing comes after the federal judge overseeing the case, Waverly Crenshaw Jr., canceled the trial in the case in December and wrote in a court order that there was enough evidence to hold a hearing on the question of vindictive prosecution after the Trump administration brought Abrego Garcia back from detention in El Salvador to face charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
…
The government is currently blocked from deporting Abrego Garcia, who was released from immigration detention in December. In a separate case last week, a federal judge ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot re-detain him because his 90-day detention period had expired and the government lacked a viable plan for his deportation.
Recommended
So, not only can we not deport this illegal alien to his home country, or apparently any other country, we can't seem to try him on charges of human trafficking, which was caught on police bodycam video after a traffic stop in 2022, where the federal prosecutor said "there were things" that were similar to other human smuggling cases, including the number of individuals in the car, the lack of luggage in the vehicle, and the fact that Abrego Garcia — who was the driver — "seemed to speak on behalf of everyone else."
Abrego Garcia wasn't charged at the time, and now prosecutors have to convince the court that these new charges aren't punishment from the White House or the Department of Justice.
Omg deport this criminal already
— TJ (@TJ17248646) February 26, 2026
Lol.
— Oblomovka (@LeeJohn5536921) February 26, 2026
Aren't you embarrassed @ABC.
Deport this individual. We can work out bringing him back if he needs to serve jail time.
Problem solved.
He was smuggling illegals. Who is being vindictive and where is that written in law?
— Dredge🇺🇸 (@Dredgehammer68) February 26, 2026
Legal battles like this test the balance between justice and overreach.
— The Maverick Trader (@XWS_Trader) February 26, 2026
He is a criminal and is an absolute waste of everyone’s time and money and does not deserve any platform. 🥴
— Niccicalifornia (@Niccicalifornia) February 26, 2026
The federal judges will do anything to keep this criminal here.
— wdz18 (@andrewwdz) February 26, 2026
You certainly can't say that this Maryland man hasn't been offered due process.
🚨INFURIATING! Illegal MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador just WALKED OUT of a federal courthouse FREE AGAIN, thanks to a deranged activist judge who straight-up SHIELDED him from ICE custody!
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) February 26, 2026
Time to impeach these activist judges!pic.twitter.com/YyakniQbDv
***