Judge clears path for ICE agent accused in Minnesota shooting case to leave Texas jail
A federal judge on Wednesday handed Minnesota a major setback in its fight to keep ICE agent Christian Castro behind bars in Texas, denying an emergency request that would have blocked his release Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rejected Minnesota’s request for a temporary restraining order barring Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino from releasing Castro while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott decides whether to extradite the agent to face assault charges.
Abbott’s office swiftly hailed the decision, calling Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s request "absurd."
"The court was right to reject Governor Walz’s absurd claim," Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris told Fox News Digital. "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.’"
"Today’s order rebuffs Minnesota’s efforts to conscript federal courts into commandeering the authority of Governor Abbott’s office," Mahaleris added.
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Walz pushed back, saying Texas should treat Castro’s case like any other extradition request.
"We are a nation of laws. It’s incumbent on all of us to uphold them," Walz said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Texas has previously fulfilled every extradition — as has Minnesota — and this case should be no different."
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison blasted Abbott after the ruling, insisting Castro will still face the charges brought against him.
"Regardless of today’s ruling, Christian Castro will not escape justice in Minnesota," Ellison said in a statement. "Minnesota should never have had to file this lawsuit or this motion … Abbott is playing with constitutional fire."
Ellison also accused the Texas governor of "turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals."
Castro’s 90-day detention period under Texas law expires Thursday. Trevino’s counsel told the court that without a court order or a rendition warrant signed by Abbott, Castro would be released from the Cameron County Jail.
Rodriguez wrote that Minnesota "fails to satisfy the requirements for the issuance of a temporary restraining order."
Minnesota had asked the court to force Abbott to immediately issue a rendition warrant and prevent Castro’s release in the meantime. The state warned Castro could flee to Mexico, pointing to jail calls with a woman described in court filings as his romantic partner who lives in Progreso, Mexico.
According to the order, Castro discussed buying property and moving to Mexico in the future. Minnesota argued that if he left the country, it could take months or years to secure his return and prosecute him.
But Rodriguez ruled that Minnesota’s lawsuit was premature because Abbott has not yet denied its extradition request.
"The record reflects only that Governor Abbott has neither agreed nor refused to sign the rendition warrant as to Castro," the judge wrote.
Abbott instead directed the Texas secretary of state to investigate whether Castro should be surrendered, a step permitted under Texas’ Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. Rodriguez found that neither the Constitution nor state and federal extradition laws at issue impose a set deadline for Abbott to complete that review.
"The Court concludes that this matter does not present an issue ripe for adjudication," Rodriguez wrote.
Minnesota formally requested Castro’s extradition in early June, after he was arrested in Cameron County on the state’s warrant. The court noted Abbott has considered the matter for an "atypically-long duration," but said Minnesota identified no law requiring the governor to act within a particular time frame.
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Castro was charged in May with four felony counts of second-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime stemming from a January ICE operation in Minnesota.
According to the order, Castro fired one shot through the closed front door of a home, injuring a person in the leg.
The shooting sparked protests in north Minneapolis and has become part of a broader political and legal battle between Minnesota officials and the Trump administration over state prosecutions of ICE agents who took part in Operation Metro Surge.
Minnesota prosecutors have separately charged ICE agent Gregory Morgan Jr. with two counts of second-degree assault after alleging he pointed a handgun at motorists during a traffic confrontation after an enforcement operation.
DHS has accused Minnesota "sanctuary politicians" of staging a "political stunt," while Minnesota officials have argued the agents’ alleged conduct fell outside their federal law-enforcement duties.
Abbott has raised questions about whether Castro can be considered a fugitive for extradition purposes because he returned to Texas on orders from federal immigration officials after the January incident.
Rodriguez, however, signaled skepticism of that reasoning in a footnote.
"The Court has doubts that caselaw supports the construction of ‘fugitive’ that Texas is considering," he wrote, noting that long-standing precedent appears to focus on whether an accused person left the state — not why.
Still, the judge said that question did not alter Wednesday’s decision.
The ruling leaves Castro’s immediate fate in Abbott’s hands. If no rendition warrant is issued and no court order intervenes, he is expected to be released Thursday.
Fox News' Patrick McGovern and Elaine Mallon contributed to this report.