Abrego Garcia lawyers file motion to dismiss criminal charges from Trump DOJ, citing 'vindictive' prosecution

Lawyers for Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge in Nashville on Tuesday to dismiss a criminal case against him, arguing in a filing that the indictment handed down by the Trump administration amounts to a "vindictive" and selective prosecution.

The 35-page filing was submitted Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in the Middle District of Tennessee. It comes just two days before Abrego Garcia is slated to be released Friday from federal custody, where he was detained on human smuggling charges in May, immediately after being returned to the U.S. from El Salvador at the end of a months-long court fight.

Both Crenshaw and U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes had determined that Abrego Garcia was eligible to be released from criminal custody pending trial, though Holmes agreed to stay...