Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, seeking to compel the extradition of ICE agent Christian Castro, who faces multiple assault charges and an accusation of falsely reporting a crime in Minnesota.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Minnesota has taken Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to court in an effort to force the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant and later falsely claiming the man had attacked him.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed the lawsuit Tuesday against Abbott, arguing that Texas has improperly delayed returning ICE agent Christian Castro to Minnesota to face criminal prosecution, according to Politico.
Castro is currently being held in Texas.
Minnesota authorities have charged him with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
The criminal allegations stem from an incident in which Castro allegedly fired through the door of a residence and shot a Venezuelan immigrant.
Authorities further allege that Castro later falsely reported that the victim had attacked him first.
The charges remain allegations, and Castro has not been convicted of the offenses.
Ellison’s lawsuit focuses on Abbott’s handling of Minnesota’s request to have Castro returned to the state for prosecution.
“Instead of promptly fulfilling his legal, ministerial duty to execute the governor’s rendition warrant for Castro, however, Governor Abbot has withheld the warrant and held up Castro’s extradition for nearly three months,” Ellison said.
Minnesota argues that interstate extradition in such cases is required by the U.S. Constitution and that a state may not simply harbor a person charged with crimes in another state when the demanding state seeks that person’s return.
Article IV, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution states:
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
The constitutional provision forms the basis of Minnesota’s argument that Texas has a duty to surrender Castro once the proper extradition demand has been made.
Ellison contends that Abbott has delayed that process for nearly three months despite Minnesota’s rendition warrant.
The dispute now places an interstate extradition fight involving a federal immigration agent before the courts, with Minnesota seeking an order that would require Texas to transfer Castro so the pending criminal case can proceed.
At the center of the litigation is whether Abbott may continue withholding action on Minnesota’s extradition request despite the constitutional language governing the return of criminal defendants between states.
Minnesota is asking the court to compel compliance and bring Castro back to the state to answer the five charges filed against him.
Original article
Comments