A federal judge declined on Wednesday to order Texas officials to keep an ICE agent accused of shooting an immigrant in custody while Minnesota’s effort to extradite him play out.
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, as Walz argued.
The upshot is that officials in Texas may be able to release the agent, Christian Castro, as soon as Thursday, even as GOP Gov. Greg Abbott mulls an extradition request made to him in June.
“Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may” violate extradition laws in the future, Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., a Trump appointee, 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.”
