Gov. has asked a federal judge to reject Minnesota鈥檚 effort to force the extradition of an immigration officer arrested in Texas, saying he has 鈥渟erious concerns鈥� whether the officer is actually a fugitive from justice.
Abbott said state officials are still investigating whether Christian Castro, who is being held in Cameron County Jail, can be classified as a fugitive because he didn鈥檛 flee Minnesota but was apparently reassigned to Texas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Minnesota is also seeking a court order keeping Castro in custody beyond Thursday for fear he would 鈥渇lee and avoid prosecution.鈥� In Texas, people awaiting extradition cannot be held longer than 90 days. Castro was arrested in Cameron County on May 29 on a warrant issued by a Minnesota court.
Abbott, in , asked the judge to deny the request, noting Castro鈥檚 freedom would have 鈥渘o effect on the Governor鈥檚 ability to issue a warrant to extradite.鈥�
鈥淭he ninety-day period limits pre-warrant detention; it does not impose a ninety-day deadline on the Governor to approve or deny the demanding State鈥檚 request,鈥� Abbott told the court.
Both sides are due to appear for a Tuesday hearing in Brownsville regarding Minnesota鈥檚 request.
Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino said in last week that he 鈥渕ust follow state law鈥� and release Castro on the 90th day 鈥� unless the court orders otherwise.
Abbott鈥檚 response came nearly a week after Minnesota officials filed to compel the extradition of Castro, who faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime after allegedly injuring a Venezuelan man earlier this year during Operation Metro Surge 鈥� a massive immigration crackdown in Minneapolis 鈥� and lying about what occurred before the shooting.
The Monday filing is in line with a comment Abbott made at an unrelated news conference last week, during which he said he doesn鈥檛 trust Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 鈥渙n anything, let alone something like this.鈥�
In particular, Abbott鈥檚 filing says it appears Castro did not flee Minnesota but instead returned to Texas for his job obligations, citing that quoted the ICE officer鈥檚 defense attorney.
The governor has instructed interim Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden 鈥� who was to Abbott before taking on the role 鈥� to investigate Castro鈥檚 circumstances and whether he should be turned over to Minnesota鈥檚 custody.
鈥淏ased on publicly available information indicating that Mr. Castro was compelled to return to Texas on orders of the federal government, I have serious doubts that the prerequisites for extradition have been met,鈥� Abbott wrote in to Howden.
Howden鈥檚 report is still pending so Abbott has not made a decision regarding the extradition request, the Monday court filing said. Howden鈥檚 office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
鈥淥nce the Secretary of State concludes his investigation, the Governor may conclude that the statutory requirements for extradition are satisfied, or he may conclude that they are not,鈥� the filing said. 鈥淓ither way, Governor Abbott is entitled to see that deliberative process through and is entitled to the presumption of regularity afforded to government acts.鈥�
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison鈥檚 office declined to immediately comment but said it will respond in court.
The case started Jan. 14 when Castro allegedly fired into an occupied home in Minneapolis and struck Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg. The ICE officer was later accused of falsely stating that Sosa-Celis and another man attacked him with a shovel and a broom, according to .
The Hennepin County Attorney鈥檚 Office announced their charges against Castro on May 18, and the Texas Rangers him in Cameron County later that month.
Walz quickly sent Abbott an extradition request 鈥� a process that typically sees prompt cooperation between the two states, according to the lawsuit. But in this case, Minnesota officials said they had to send letters urging Abbott to sign the paperwork before suing him Aug. 18.
鈥淎bbott鈥檚 refusal to extradite Castro is unconstitutional and violates federal law and Texas law,鈥� Ellison said in a statement about the lawsuit.
Abbott shot back later that day during an unrelated news conference.
After expressing his distrust of Walz, the Texas governor pointed to a wide-ranging in Minnesota that the Trump administration used to justify Operation Metro Surge, a crackdown that also led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration officers.
鈥淲hile they鈥檙e making demands, I got a demand of my own and that is: It鈥檚 time for Minnesota to step up and repay the United States of America and Americans for all the fraud that they have committed in their state under federal programs,鈥� Abbott said last week.
This first appeared on .
