Federal judge won’t intervene in Minnesota extradition fight over ICE agent being detained in Texas

By Ashley Killough, Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — A federal judge declined on Wednesday to intervene in a politically sensitive extradition fight over an ICE agent facing charges in Minnesota who is currently detained in Texas.

The judge said he lacked authority over a lawsuit brought by Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz last week that aimed to keep the agent behind bars for now because he didn’t think there was evidence that Texas’ governor had violated federal law by not extraditing the agent yet, as Walz argued.

The ruling comes a day before Texas may be able to release the agent, Christian Castro, as GOP Gov. Greg Abbott continues to mull the extradition request made to him in June.

In addition to not ordering officials to keep Castro behind bars, Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., an appointee of President Donald Trump, also handed Walz a loss by not directly ordering Texas to hand the agent over to officials in Minnesota so he can face charges stemming from the shooting of an immigrant in Minneapolis area earlier this year.

“Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may” violate extradition laws in the future, Rodriguez, Jr. wrote in the ruling. “The record before the court … reveals that Governor Abbott has not denied the request for a rendition warrant.”

He continued: “Minnesota identifies no statutory or constitutional provision requiring Governor Abbott to complete his investigation and decide whether to sign the rendition warrant within a particular time period.”

Texas Rangers arrested Castro in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29 on a nationwide warrant. He faces four felony charges and a misdemeanor in Minnesota after the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis during the height of Operation Metro Surge in the Minneapolis area. Prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, say Castro shot Sosa-Celis in the leg through the front door of a home, injuring him and endangering several other people who were also inside.

Castro is eligible for release from custody as soon as Thursday due to a Texas criminal procedure policy that puts a 90-day limit on the detention of fugitives awaiting extradition.

The Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Treviño told CNN on Wednesday that he’s waiting for further guidance from county attorneys on whether to release Castro.

After the judge’s decision, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison vowed to continue litigating the case, saying Abbott is “playing with constitutional fire.”

“Greg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals. But regardless of today’s ruling, Christian Castro will not escape justice in Minnesota,” Ellison said in a statement.

CNN has attempted to reach Castro’s lawyer.

Minnesota, which sued Texas last week, argued that Castro posed a flight risk to Mexico due to a romantic relationship he has with a woman in Mexico. Rodriguez on Wednesday recognized that Castro’s potential flight to Mexico would “impose a hardship on Minnesota’s prosecutorial efforts,” but said that that concern alone was not enough to overcome the procedural issued he identified in the case.

“The threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication,” the judge wrote.

Texas has resisted the extradition so far because it took issue with Minnesota’s labeling of Castro as a “fugitive.” Castro was ordered back to his home base in Texas in January after the shooting, according to statements from an ICE field office director. Abbott’s office argued that extradition powers only apply to fugitives and that the state is still determining whether Castro’s move to Texas can be considered the act of a a fugitive who’s fleeing from criminal liability.

“The court was right to reject Governor Walz’s absurd claim. The Constitution requires deliberate consideration of extradition requests and tasks Governor Abbott to ‘decide, upon such evidence as he may deem satisfactory’ whether ‘the person demanded is a fugitive,’” Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Abbott’s office, said in a statement Wednesday.

As the extradition fight plays out in Texas, the Justice Department has been considering a federal prosecution, but no decision had been made on Tuesday.

Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington told CNN this week that officials in the civil rights division have held conversations with local prosecutors in Minnesota. It is not clear what, if anything, the Justice Department will ultimately charge Castro with. Covington described the conversations as a standard part of any ongoing investigation.

Federal charges would mark a significant move for the Trump administration, which has vigorously resisted attempts to hold ICE officers accountable for other shootings.

Bringing a federal case against the officer wouldn’t on its own stop the Minnesota case from proceeding simultaneously.

CNN’s Whitney Wild contributed to this report.

This story was updated to include statements.

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