BROWNSVILLE 鈥� The immigration officer at the center of a Minnesota-Texas legal fight was released from a South Texas jail Thursday, a day after a federal judge rejected Minnesota鈥檚 attempt to keep him jailed as the state fights to extradite the man to face criminal charges related to a January shooting.
Christian Castro walked out of the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron Detention Center early Thursday morning, according to He faces four counts of assault after he allegedly fired through a closed door in Minneapolis on Jan. 14 and struck a Venezuelan man in the leg. He is also accused of lying about events leading to the shooting.
In , Minnesota officials sought to compel Gov. Greg Abbott to agree to extradite Castro.
The lawsuit also asked U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., appointed by President Donald Trump, to order Castro held in a Cameron County jail beyond Thursday while they await Abbott鈥檚 decision on the extradition request.
People awaiting extradition in Texas cannot be held longer than 90 days. Castro, who was arrested in Cameron County on May 29, will reach that deadline Thursday. Minnesota officials expressed concern that if released, the officer would flee and avoid prosecution.
In the Wednesday order, Rodriguez ruled that Abbott has not denied extradition so Minnesota鈥檚 case is not yet 鈥渞ipe for adjudication.鈥�
And although the judge acknowledged that Abbott has considered the extradition request 鈥渇or an atypically long duration,鈥� he found that Minnesota has not identified any federal law requiring the Texas governor to decide whether to sign the extradition paperwork within a certain time period.
The judge also concluded that the threat of flight was not enough to justify holding Castro beyond the legal limit.
鈥淭he Court agrees that Castro鈥檚 flight to Mexico would impose a hardship on Minnesota鈥檚 prosecutorial efforts,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淏ut that possible outcome does not alter the analysis.鈥�
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he 鈥渟trongly disagrees鈥� with the ruling, adding that his office will keep fighting to bring the officer back to face charges in the state.
鈥淕reg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals,鈥� he said in 鈥淏ut regardless of today's ruling, Christian Castro will not escape justice in Minnesota.鈥濃��
Abbott鈥檚 spokesperson, Andrew Mahaleris, said the court was correct in rejecting Minnesota鈥檚 鈥渁bsurd claim.鈥�
鈥淭he Constitution requires deliberate consideration of extradition requests and tasks Governor Abbott to 鈥榙ecide, upon such evidence as he may deem satisfactory鈥� whether 鈥榯he person demanded is a fugitive,鈥欌�� he said in a statement. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 order rebuffs Minnesota鈥檚 efforts to conscript federal courts into commandeering the authority of Governor Abbott鈥檚 office.鈥�
Earlier this week, Abbott that he has not signed the rendition warrant because of 鈥渟erious doubts鈥� that Castro qualifies as a fugitive, citing media reports that said the ICE officer didn鈥檛 flee Minnesota and had instead returned to Texas due to job obligations.
The governor said he ordered Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden 鈥� his former senior adviser 鈥� to investigate this issue on July 31, but that inquiry remains pending. During a hearing Tuesday in Rodriguez鈥檚 Brownsville courtroom, attorneys for Texas argued that the state was working diligently to make that determination.
Howden鈥檚 office didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment about his investigation鈥檚 timeline.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Minnesota argued Tuesday that how Castro ended up in Texas was irrelevant and that the investigation into whether he is a fugitive has no basis in law.
They also said Abbott has a duty to make Castro available for extradition under the Extradition Clause of the Constitution, which they said is meant to preclude any state from becoming a sanctuary for fugitives of another state.
In his Wednesday order, the judge concluded that federal extradition law doesn鈥檛 give him the authority to set a time limit for Texas officials to conduct their investigation. He also found that there is 鈥渘o direct evidence鈥� that Abbott pushed for an investigation to delay the extradition or that Howden鈥檚 inquiry would go on for a long time.
鈥淭he threat of an indefinite consideration of Minnesota鈥檚 extradition request does not currently exist,鈥� Rodriguez wrote.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
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