A Trump-appointed federal judge handed Democrat Minnesota Governor Tim Walz a stinging defeat Wednesday, refusing to force Texas Governor Greg Abbott to extradite an ICE officer charged in connection with an immigration operation.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., appointed by President Trump in 2018, denied Minnesota’s emergency request for a Temporary Restraining Order against Governor Abbott and Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino.
The court ruled the matter is “not ripe” because Abbott has neither agreed nor refused to sign the extradition warrant — he formally referred it to the Texas Secretary of State on July 31 to investigate whether ICE officer Christian Castro, age 52, is legally a “fugitive.”
“Minnesota’s claim rests on speculation about future events, making it not ripe for federal court adjudication.”
Judge Rodriguez ordered that under Texas law, Castro must be discharged after 90 days if no governor’s rendition warrant has been executed. That deadline expires August 27, 2026 — Thursday.
Sheriff Trevino cannot violate Texas law by holding Castro beyond the 90-day window, the judge ruled, even though Minnesota provided evidence from a recorded jail call where Castro allegedly said he would flee to Mexico if released from the Brownsville jail.
Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with a January 14 scuffle during an immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed an officer fired a “defensive shot” after being attacked by three men with a snow shovel and broom handle. One man, Sosa-Celis, was struck in the thigh and taken to the hospital.
DHS officials later said they were investigating what appeared to be “untruthful statements” made by the officers after reviewing video evidence.
The Justice Department is reportedly weighing whether to bring federal charges against Castro.
Judge Rodriguez did express doubt about Governor Abbott’s legal theory that Castro isn’t a “fugitive” because he was ordered to travel to Texas by ICE. The judge cited U.S. Supreme Court precedent stating that “fugitive” status requires only that the accused committed an alleged crime in one state and subsequently left the jurisdiction — regardless of whether the departure was voluntary or employer-ordered.
Still, the federal court’s refusal to interfere with Texas’s statutory process leaves Governor Walz and Minnesota prosecutors with little recourse as the 90-day detention clock runs out Thursday.
While Judge Rodriguez acknowledged Minnesota’s flight-risk concerns, he firmly upheld the constitutional boundaries governing interstate extradition — reaffirming that federal courts cannot manufacture arbitrary deadlines or strip state governors of their deliberate investigative authority.
With Castro set to be discharged from the Cameron County Jail upon the expiration of the statutory deadline, the legal maneuvering by Walz and far-left Attorney General Keith Ellison has stalled. Any future accountability rests with Governor Abbott’s pending administrative review or a potential federal prosecution by the Department of Justice.
The charges remain allegations. The case has not been proven in court.
The case is styled Tim Walz, et al. v. Greg Abbott, et al., Civil Action No. 1:26-CV-00906, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division.
🚨 BREAKING: A federal judge has just BLOCKED MN Gov. Tim Walz and AG Keith Ellison from forcing Texas Gov. Abbott to extradite an ICE agent for prosecution, for now
GOOD! Minnesota can screw off 🔥
Abbott hasn’t made a final determination, but the judge confirms that he is… pic.twitter.com/LC1VDYvqcg
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 26, 2026
