An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent facing felony assault charges for shooting a Venezuelan immigrant through a duplex door could walk free from Texas custody as soon as Thursday, after a federal judge sided with Gov. Greg Abbott over Minnesota in an unusual interstate legal fight.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, ruled Wednesday that Minnesota hadn't proven Abbott acted improperly by refusing to act on the state's extradition request for agent Christian Castro, reported The New York Times. Under Texas law, defendants can only be held on extradition warrants for 90 days — a window closing just as the ruling came down.
Castro was charged in May with four counts of assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, stemming from a January 14 shooting in Minneapolis where he fired through a duplex's front door, wounding Julio C. Sosa-Celis.
The Department of Homeland Security initially claimed Castro fired in self-defense after being attacked with a broom and shovel, but federal prosecutors dropped related charges against Sosa-Celis and his roommate in February after video evidence suggested Castro had likely lied about what happened.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, sent Abbott a routine extradition request soon after Castro's arrest, but Abbott has refused to sign off. His office claims it's still reviewing whether Castro legally qualifies as a "fugitive" since he left Minnesota at his employer's direction before facing charges.
Attorneys for Minnesota have pushed back sharply, writing, "Governor Abbott's position, if accepted, would mean that any time a person committed a crime in one state and then left the state because of a job transfer... they could never be extradited to face prosecution."
Minnesota officials say the stakes are urgent: according to their lawsuit, monitored jailhouse conversations show Castro discussing plans to marry a woman in Mexico and buy a house there once released. Legal experts called the entire dispute "extraordinarily unusual," warning it may signal a new front in interstate legal warfare fueled by clashing politics over immigration enforcement.
