Abbott asks court to reject Minnesota bid to force extradition of ICE officer

Gov. Greg Abbott has asked a federal judge to reject Minnesota’s effort to force the extradition of an immigration officer arrested in Texas, saying he has “serious concerns” 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’t 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 “flee and avoid prosecution.” 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 a brief filed Monday, asked the judge to deny the request, noting Castro’s freedom would have “no effect on the Governor’s ability to issue a warrant to extradite.”

“The 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’s request,” Abbott told the court.

Both sides are due to appear for a Tuesday hearing in Brownsville regarding Minnesota’s request.

Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino said in a court filing last week that he “must follow state law” and release Castro on the 90th day — unless the court orders otherwise.

Abbott’s response came nearly a week after Minnesota officials filed a federal lawsuit 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 — a massive immigration crackdown in Minneapolis — 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’t trust Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “on anything, let alone something like this.”

In particular, Abbott’s filing says it appears Castro did not flee Minnesota but instead returned to Texas for his job obligations, citing media reports that quoted the ICE officer’s defense attorney.

The governor has instructed interim Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden — who was a senior adviser to Abbott before taking on the role — to investigate Castro’s circumstances and whether he should be turned over to Minnesota’s custody.

“Based 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,” Abbott wrote in a July 31 letter to Howden.

Howden’s report is still pending so Abbott has not made a decision regarding the extradition request, the Monday court filing said. Howden’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Once 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,” the filing said. “Either way, Governor Abbott is entitled to see that deliberative process through and is entitled to the presumption of regularity afforded to government acts.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s 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 court documents.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced their charges against Castro on May 18, and the Texas Rangers helped arrest him in Cameron County later that month.

Walz quickly sent Abbott an extradition request — 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.

“Abbott’s refusal to extradite Castro is unconstitutional and violates federal law and Texas law,” 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 welfare fraud scandal 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.

“While they’re making demands, I got a demand of my own and that is: It’s 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,” Abbott said last week.