BROWNSVILLE \u2014 The immigration officer at the center of a Minnesota-Texas legal fight was released from a South Texas jail Thursday, a day after a federal judge rejected Minnesota\u2019s attempt to keep him jailed as the state fights to extradite the man to face criminal charges related to a January shooting.<\/p>\n
Christian Castro walked out of the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron Detention Center early Thursday morning, according to The Associated Press.<\/a> He faces four counts of assault after he allegedly fired through a closed door in Minneapolis on Jan. 14 and struck a Venezuelan man in the leg. He is also accused of lying about events leading to the shooting.<\/p>\n In a lawsuit filed last week<\/a>, Minnesota officials sought to compel Gov. Greg Abbott to agree to extradite Castro.<\/p>\n The lawsuit also asked U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., appointed by President Donald Trump, to order Castro held in a Cameron County jail beyond Thursday while they await Abbott\u2019s decision on the extradition request.<\/p>\n People awaiting extradition in Texas cannot be held longer than 90 days. Castro, who was arrested in Cameron County on May 29, will reach that deadline Thursday. Minnesota officials expressed concern that if released, the officer would flee and avoid prosecution.<\/p>\n In the Wednesday order, Rodriguez ruled that Abbott has not denied extradition so Minnesota\u2019s case is not yet \u201cripe for adjudication.\u201d<\/p>\n And although the judge acknowledged that Abbott has considered the extradition request \u201cfor an atypically long duration,\u201d he found that Minnesota has not identified any federal law requiring the Texas governor to decide whether to sign the extradition paperwork within a certain time period.<\/p>\n The judge also concluded that the threat of flight was not enough to justify holding Castro beyond the legal limit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Court agrees that Castro\u2019s flight to Mexico would impose a hardship on Minnesota\u2019s prosecutorial efforts,\u201d he wrote. \u201cBut that possible outcome does not alter the analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he \u201cstrongly disagrees\u201d with the ruling, adding that his office will keep fighting to bring the officer back to face charges in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cGreg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/a> \u201cBut regardless of today\u2019s ruling, Christian Castro will not escape justice in Minnesota.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n Abbott\u2019s spokesperson, Andrew Mahaleris, said the court was correct in rejecting Minnesota\u2019s \u201cabsurd claim.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Constitution requires deliberate consideration of extradition requests and tasks Governor Abbott to \u2018decide, upon such evidence as he may deem satisfactory\u2019 whether \u2018the person demanded is a fugitive,\u2019\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cToday\u2019s order rebuffs Minnesota\u2019s efforts to conscript federal courts into commandeering the authority of Governor Abbott\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n