An ICE officer accused of shooting an unarmed man in Minneapolis has been released from a Texas jail after Governor Greg Abbott failed to approve Minnesota’s extradition request before the legal limit on his detention expired.
Christian Castro, 52, walked free from the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron Detention Center in South Texas on Thursday, 27 August, despite facing five criminal charges in Minnesota.
Castro is accused of shooting 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on 14 January.
Minnesota authorities had been seeking Castro’s extradition from Texas for almost three months, but Abbott had not signed the paperwork needed to return him to the state before Texas reached the 90-day limit on holding him.
His release does not dismiss the charges against him.
What is Castro accused of?
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
Prosecutors allege Castro fired his weapon through the front door of a Minneapolis home after people had run inside.
The bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg before travelling into the house and hitting the wall of a child’s bedroom.
Authorities also accuse Castro of giving a false account of what happened.
The Department of Homeland Security initially said immigration officers had been attacked with a broom handle and snow shovel during the incident.
However, Hennepin County prosecutors say Castro was not struck with a shovel, broom or any other weapon.
ICE Director Todd Lyons has previously acknowledged that two agents involved in the incident gave false information about what happened.
Castro has not been convicted of any offence and the allegations against him remain to be tested in court.
Arrested in Texas
Castro was arrested in Texas on 29 May after Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators located him.
Texas Rangers carried out the arrest, with Minnesota investigators and Department of Homeland Security personnel also present.
Minnesota subsequently sought to have Castro extradited back to the state to face the charges.
Ordinarily, extradition requests between US states are handled by the governors concerned.
But Abbott did not sign Minnesota’s request.
As the 90-day maximum period for holding Castro approached, Minnesota took the unusual step of suing Abbott in federal court in an attempt to force action and prevent Castro’s release.
Why didn’t Abbott extradite him?
Abbott has questioned whether Castro legally qualifies as a fugitive.
His argument centres on the fact that Castro did not apparently flee Minnesota after the alleged offence.
Instead, according to Abbott, Castro was reassigned to Texas by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Texas governor said the state was investigating whether that meant Castro was subject to the normal extradition process.
Minnesota rejects that argument.
Officials there say Castro was physically present in Minnesota when the alleged offences occurred, is now in another state and should therefore be returned to face the charges against him.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has described the dispute over Castro’s status as a “smokescreen”.
Judge refuses to force Abbott to act
Minnesota attempted to keep Castro behind bars while the dispute was resolved, but a federal judge rejected the request.
US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr did not rule that Abbott was correct to block or delay the extradition.
Instead, the judge found that Abbott had not formally refused Minnesota’s request and that existing law did not impose a specific deadline requiring the Texas governor to make a decision.
That meant the court would not order Abbott to sign the extradition paperwork.
With Castro reaching Texas’s 90-day detention limit, he was released on Thursday morning.
His current whereabouts have not been publicly confirmed.
Minnesota authorities have previously argued that Castro presents a flight risk, including concerns that he could travel into neighbouring Mexico.
Minnesota attacks Abbott over release
Ellison has strongly criticised Abbott following Castro’s release, accusing the Texas governor of effectively preventing Minnesota from prosecuting a man facing serious felony charges.
He accused Abbott of turning Texas into a “sanctuary state for accused felons and violent criminals” in a statement issued after Castro’s release.
Minnesota says it has no intention of abandoning the prosecution.
The dispute also comes against the backdrop of a much wider political battle between Texas and Minnesota over immigration enforcement and the Trump administration’s deportation policies.
For now, Castro remains charged in Minnesota but is no longer in custody in Texas.
Whether Abbott eventually approves the extradition request, Minnesota launches further legal action or Castro is taken back into custody remains unclear.
Fish 4 News will update this story as further information becomes available.