Texas Frees Detained ICE Agent After Federal Judge Rejects Minnesota’s Bid To Compel His Extradition

An ICE agent facing charges in Minnesota, Christian Castro, has been released from a Texas jail days after a federal judge rejected the North Star State’s request to compel his extradition. The release comes at the end of a 90-day detention limit for people being held pending an extradition request. Mr. Castro was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. The Hennepin County attorney, Mary Moriarty, accused him of lying about being attacked by a Venezuelan man in January and improperly shooting him.After Texas Rangers detained the immigration officer, Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, sent an extradition request to Texas. But for roughly three months, there was no answer. Last week, Minnesota filed a federal lawsuit, asking a court to compel the Lone Star State to approve the extradition, fearing that he would be released and might flee to Mexico.Attorneys for Texas’ governor, Greg Abbott, said the state was investigating whether the detained ICE agent qualified as a fugitive due to reports that he may have been ordered to leave Minneapolis by the federal government, and therefore did not flee.The federal judge in the case Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, found that the Constitution’s Extradition Clause has no timeline specifying when a state must approve an extradition request. While Texas law limits how long an individual can be held as the extradition process plays out, Judge Rodriguez said the “possible outcome” of Mr. Castro’s release did not change his analysis that the Constitution provides no deadline for extradition proceedings and that he does not have the authority to impose one.The case raises several questions about state authority, including whether Minnesota has the authority to charge Mr. Castro. Federal officers are typically immune from state charges for conduct that occurred while they were carrying out their federal duties.There are some limitations on those protections, such as a requirement that their actions be “necessary and proper” to the conduct of their duties. And the case has led to renewed questions about what kind of discretion governors have to evaluate extradition requests for approval or rejection. Minnesota’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, said in a post on X that he will “keep fighting so that Agent Castro will face justice in Minnesota.” Mr. Abbott shot back, calling Minnesota’s attorneys “bad lawyers” who “don’t know the law.”

Texas Frees Detained ICE Agent After Federal Judge Rejects Minnesota’s Bid To Compel His Extradition

Texas Frees Detained ICE Agent After Federal Judge Rejects Minnesota’s Bid To Compel His Extradition

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