Скачать или смотреть Prosecutor claims that delayed charges against Abrego Garcia were 'extraordinary' but justified

(26 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nashville, Tennessee - 26 February 2026
1. Zoom in on Kilmar Abrego Garcia leaving federal courthouse after hearing
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ama Frimpong, legal director for We Are CASA:
"One thing that I do want to note, right, obviously we heard many, many times over the past year, 'Kilmar will never walk a free man in this country ever again,' right? And what happened today? Kilmar walked inside of that courtroom a free man and Kilmar is walking out of that courtroom a free man. And it is because of the fight, the continuous fight that we've been pushing for almost a year now"
3. Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his family getting in a van outside the courthouse
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ama Frimpong, legal director for We Are CASA:
"Broadly, right, the way that things were left off is that the judge is looking for the attorneys for each side to submit written arguments, right, to submit written briefs. And then, you know, the judge is going to let us know what the next steps are, whether there has to be another hearing or whether the judge is going to simply issue a decision on the motion. But that is the extent of what I can talk about regarding the criminal case. You know, certainly anything else specific to the criminal matter would have to be directed to the attorneys of record for the criminal matter."
5. Wide of the van carrying Kilmar Abrego Garcia leaving the federal courthouse
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ama Frimpong, legal director for We Are CASA:
"Their faith has really been what has kept them going for almost a year. And they are also very grateful to the community for continuing to show up and for never giving up the fight for Kilmar."
7. STILL Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, left, leave the federal courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV; ID: 26057756330269
8. STILL Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, left, accompanied by Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, right, of We Are Casa, leave the federal courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV; ID: 26057756361481)
STORYLINE:
A representative of the U.S. Attorney’s office testified in federal court on Thursday that the human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia was justified while acknowledging that the charges coming two years after a traffic stop in question was “extraordinary.”

Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has galvanized both sides of the immigration debate, claims that the criminal prosecution is vindictive and pushed by officials from President Donald Trump's administration to punish him after they were forced to bring him back to the United States. He wants the charges dismissed.

While Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen, a court order from 2019 prevents him from being deported to that country. That's because an immigration judge determined he faced danger in El Salvador from a gang that had threatened his family. Abrego Garcia, 30, immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager but has an American wife and child. He has lived and worked in Maryland for years under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

After he was deported to El Salvador last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration had to work to bring him back. He was eventually returned to the U.S. only to face criminal charges of human smuggling based on a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty.




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