Governor “Law and order when it suits my purposes but not otherwise” strikes again.
Gov. Greg Abbott has asked a federal judge to reject Minnesota’s effort to force the extradition of an immigration officer arrested in Texas, saying he has “serious concerns” whether the officer is actually a fugitive from justice.
Abbott said state officials are still investigating whether Christian Castro, who is being held in Cameron County Jail, can be classified as a fugitive because he didn’t flee Minnesota but was apparently reassigned to Texas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Minnesota is also seeking a court order keeping Castro in custody beyond Thursday for fear he would “flee and avoid prosecution.” In Texas, people awaiting extradition cannot be held longer than 90 days. Castro was arrested in Cameron County on May 29 on a warrant issued by a Minnesota court.
Abbott, in a brief filed Monday, asked the judge to deny the request, noting Castro’s freedom would have “no effect on the Governor’s ability to issue a warrant to extradite.”
“The ninety-day period limits pre-warrant detention; it does not impose a ninety-day deadline on the Governor to approve or deny the demanding State’s request,” Abbott told the court.
Both sides are due to appear for a Tuesday hearing in Brownsville regarding Minnesota’s request.
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The Monday filing is in line with a comment Abbott made at an unrelated news conference last week, during which he said he doesn’t trust Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “on anything, let alone something like this.”
In particular, Abbott’s filing says it appears Castro did not flee Minnesota but instead returned to Texas for his job obligations, citing media reports that quoted the ICE officer’s defense attorney.
The governor has instructed interim Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden — who was a senior adviser to Abbott before taking on the role — to investigate Castro’s circumstances and whether he should be turned over to Minnesota’s custody.
“Based on publicly available information indicating that Mr. Castro was compelled to return to Texas on orders of the federal government, I have serious doubts that the prerequisites for extradition have been met,” Abbott wrote in a July 31 letter to Howden.
Howden’s report is still pending so Abbott has not made a decision regarding the extradition request, the Monday court filing said. Howden’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
See here for the background. Let’s just say there’s no reason to trust a single thing Greg Abbott says or does, and leave it at that. Spectrum News has more.
The prevalence of the FYIDWAW mindset among the Rs is further proof of the adage that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.