ICE Officer Christian Castro walked out of a Texas jail early Thursday, free for the first time in 90 days, after Minnesota’s bid to get him extradited to face assault charges stalled.
Officer Castro had been held for 90 days — the maximum time under Texas law — while he resisted extradition.
Minnesota said Texas was required to transfer him, but Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has said he needs more time to consider the case. He questions whether Office Castro counts as a “fugitive” from Minnesota.
A federal judge on Wednesday rebuffed Minnesota’s request for a restraining order directing Mr. Abbott to make the transfer. Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. said the law lacks a deadline for a decision, so there was no basis in law to order him to make one.
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Still, Judge Rodriguez undercut Mr. Abbott’s legal objections, saying it seems that Officer Castro would count as a fugitive under the law.
“The court has doubts that caselaw supports the construction of ‘fugitive’ that Texas is considering,” he wrote.
Mr. Abbott has elevated the battle to a red state-blue state matter, saying he would act on the extradition request after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, gets serious about tackling rampant welfare fraud.
Officer Castro was part of the surge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel that went to Minnesota late last year and earlier this year as part of Mr. Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
On Jan. 14, Officer Castro fired a shot from his gun into a home, wounding an occupant, Judge Rodriguez said.
The shooting came between two others, where U.S. citizens were killed.
Initially, ICE claimed that men had attacked Officer Castro and the shooting occurred as he was fending off the attack.
Officer Castro is now accused of fabricating that story.
The man who was shot, Julio Sosa-Celis, was initially charged with beating the ICE officer. Those charges were dropped in February after the Justice Department said the evidence didn’t support Officer Castro’s version of events.
Minnesota prosecutors indicted Officer Castro on May 18 on four felonies and one misdemeanor stemming from the encounter. The state issued a warrant for Officer Castro’s arrest that same day.
He was arrested in Texas on May 29, kicking off a 90-day clock under Texas law.
Mr. Abbott has suggested that since Officer Castro was ordered by his superiors to leave Minnesota and return to his usual duty station in Texas in January — well before he was charged — he might not fit the definition of a fugitive.
Judge Rodriguez, though, said the key point isn’t who ordered him gone, but the mere fact of his departure after a crime.
