Kilmar Abrego, the 29-year-old Salvadoran migrant who was wrongly deported to El Salvador during the Trump administration, is walking free after a federal judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to keep him behind bars before trial.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville upheld a ruling that prosecutors failed to prove Abrego was a public safety threat or a flight risk. Abrego faces human smuggling charges but has pleaded not guilty, claiming the government is targeting him to cover up its own mistakes.
Abrego’s legal troubles trace back to 2019 when a court ruled he couldn’t be deported to El Salvador due to threats from gangs. Despite that ruling, the Trump administration sent him there in 2020, where he was jailed. Now back in the U.S., prosecutors allege he used children during smuggling trips and mistreated passengers, accusations his lawyers say come from unreliable witnesses trying to avoid their own charges.
In a separate case, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland issued a three-day pause on any deportation attempt to give Abrego’s attorneys time to challenge his removal.
For now, Abrego is free while awaiting trial, and any plans to deport him again are on hold.
