'he was arrested in New York/New Jersey and then transferred to 1,500 miles from there to New Mexico (for no apparent reason).'

Sean, that makes no sense. For one thing, New York and New Jersey are two entirely different states with different governments and different cops. Which one was he arrested in? If you don't know, then you don't know enough about this case.

The cost of sending a person from New Jersey to Mexico, closely supervised at every step, would be very high. Why would the gov't spend money to transport him to New Mexico? Why would New Mexico accept responsibility for him if he has committed no crime there?

Either your post is not sincere or you are not getting the whole story.