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The Justice Department is now trying to revive its human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego
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Garcia, and the fight now centers on why prosecutors brought the case in the first place
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Abrego Garcia is the Salvadoran man the Trump administration wrongfully deported last year
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before he was returned to the U.S. Prosecutors later charged him with two human smuggling counts
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stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty. But in May, a federal
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judge dismissed the case, finding that Abrego Garcia had shown the prosecution was vindictive
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Now the Justice Department is asking the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the charges
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In a filing Monday, DOJ argues prosecutors brought the case because the evidence supported it
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and says the judge went too far in questioning their motives. Abrego Garcia's lawyers called that argument flat wrong
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They say the case was retaliation for his successful fight against his deportation
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For now, the charges remain dismissed. His lawyers will respond before the appeals court decides whether to revive the case
