Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has launched an extraordinary attack on Texas Governor Greg Abbott, accusing him of turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals following the release of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Christian Castro, an ICE agent facing four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime over a 14 January shooting during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, walked free from the Cameron County Jail after completing a mandatory ninety-day detention limit.
The high-stakes development unfolded a day after US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. rejected Minnesota's emergency lawsuit seeking to compel Abbott to sign an extradition warrant and keep the officer behind bars.
State prosecutors allege that Castro fired a bullet through the front door of an occupied home, striking a Venezuelan migrant in the leg before fabricating claims that residents attacked him with a shovel and broomstick.
With Minnesota officials warning that the defendant could flee across the border into Mexico, the intensifying interstate conflict has ignited a fierce constitutional debate over executive authority, extradition duties, and the limits of federal judicial intervention.
Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime over the 14 January shooting in north Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge.
Minnesota prosecutors allege Castro fired through the front door of an occupied home, striking Venezuelan migrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg. The criminal complaint says the bullet ultimately struck a wall in a child's bedroom.
Prosecutors also allege Castro falsely reported that Sosa-Celis and another man had attacked him with a broomstick and shovel. Investigators say nearby surveillance footage contradicted that account. Castro has been charged, not convicted, and the allegations remain to be tested in court.
He was arrested by Texas Rangers on 29 May after Minnesota sought his extradition and remained at the Cameron County Jail until Thursday's release.
Abbott draws a hard line in the extradition battle refusing to hand the ICE agent over to Minnesota while blasting Keith Ellison over alleged multibillion dollar fraud as the Justice Department weighs federal charges that could completely reshape the case#NYI pic.twitter.com/jwgLZoZVHp
The prospect of Castro leaving the United States has become the most explosive part of the extradition fight.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty warned that Abbott still had the ability to prevent Castro from leaving Texas while Minnesota pursued his return.
'If Christian Castro walks out of the door of the jail tomorrow and disappears into Mexico, it will be the fault of one person, Greg Abbott,' Moriarty said.
Minnesota's lawsuit also cited jail calls in which Castro allegedly discussed marrying a woman in Mexico and buying a house there after his release. Those details do not establish that Castro intends to flee, but they explain why Minnesota officials have cited Mexico as a potential destination for flight.
Ellison says the dispute is about more than one defendant. According to Minnesota's lawsuit, Texas handled 11 extradition requests from Minnesota over the previous five years, with Abbott signing the warrants in about 30 days on average.
