If Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) thought it would be easy taking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to court over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, he badly misread the room.
Ellison is trying to force Abbott to extradite ICE agent Christian Castro, who is facing charges in Minnesota stemming from a January shooting that took place during ICE's immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis. Ellison had set an extradition deadline of 5:00 PM last Monday – a deadline happily Abbott ignored. And he had his reasons.
Abbott, to Ellison's likely chagrin, isn't exactly known for caving to Democrats, particularly when the people trying to do the strong-arming are those who have spent years putting out the welcome mat for illegal aliens and fighting to keep them in the country. You could say that the governor of Texas is an expert on this topic.
Abbott's response to Minnesota got right to the heart of the matter: "I don't trust Tim Walz on anything, let alone something like this..." As for Ellison's demand that Castro be turned over? "I got a demand of my own, and that is, it's time for Minnesota to step up and repay the United States of America and Americans for all the fraud that they have committed in their state under federal programs," the governor said.
"I don't trust Tim Walz on anything, let alone something like this... While they're making demands, I got a demand of my own, and that is, it's time for Minnesota to step up and repay the United States of America and Americans for all the fraud that they have committed in their state under federal programs. I will not respond to them at all until they step up and do what's right, and they acknowledge their fault in the fraud that took place, and they fully repay the United States of America for the fraud they committed."
Minnesota Sues Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Over ICE Agent Extradition
— Salem News Channel (@WatchSalemNews) August 19, 2026
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing Abbott to force the extradition of ICE agent Christian Castro, who faces assault and false-reporting charges over a January Minneapolis shooting.
Abbott has… pic.twitter.com/aNoEC3kpin
Minnesota Sues Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Over ICE Agent Extradition
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing Abbott to force the extradition of ICE agent Christian Castro, who faces assault and false-reporting charges over a January Minneapolis shooting.
Abbott has delayed the extradition, citing Minnesota’s handling of fraud investigations.
This, of course, is much bigger than one extradition request. What Abbott is signaling here is that Minnesota, as overseen by the likes of Tim Walz, Peggy Flanagan, and Keith Ellison, has become the symbol of Democrat malfeasance – a state where billions in taxpayer dollars have been lost to fraud, state leaders allowed it, and the criminals seemed to be treated better than the victims.
So, of course Greg Abbott laughed in Keith Ellison's face when Ellison came calling.
Ellison may have expected his deadline and lawsuit to put Abbott on the defensive, but Abbott masterfully turned the tables and put Minnesota’s own record on trial. If Ellison wanted a fight, he definitely found one.
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