US Judge Denies Minnesota Bid to Extradite ICE Agent Before 90-Day Texas Deadline
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 26
US Judge Denies Minnesota Bid to Extradite ICE Agent Before 90-Day Texas Deadline
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 26
Summary
Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. refused to force Texas to hand over ICE agent Christian Castro, ruling Greg Abbott has neither approved nor denied Minnesota’s extradition request and therefore has not yet broken the law.
Thursday marks Castro’s 90-day Texas detention limit, after which he must be transferred or released; Minnesota warned he could flee to Mexico, citing jail calls about marrying a woman there and buying a house.
Castro is charged in Hennepin County with assault and falsely reporting a crime after prosecutors say he shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg through a Minneapolis home’s front door during a January ICE raid.
Video later undercut agents’ claims that Sosa-Celis and another man attacked them with a broom handle and snow shovel, leading to dropped charges against Sosa-Celis and ICE placing Castro and another agent on leave.
The case stems from Trump’s Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, a short-lived federal immigration crackdown that drew protests and civil-liberties complaints.