Judge Denies Minnesota’s Demands For Texas To Extradite ICE Officer

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Minnesota’s emergency attempt to force Texas to extradite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan man and lying about the incident, potentially clearing the way for the agent’s release from jail.

Christian Castro, 52, faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in Minnesota over a January shooting during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

The judge denied Minnesota’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the Cameron County sheriff from releasing Castro and required Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to sign an extradition warrant allowing Minnesota authorities to take custody of him.

Castro has been held in Texas since May. Under existing Texas law, a person jailed while awaiting extradition can be held for up to 90 days, meaning Castro could be released as soon as Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued Abbott last week to compel Castro’s extradition and sought a temporary restraining order to prevent his release while the dispute played out.

Officials in Minnesota fear Castro is a flight risk, citing calls he has made from jail to a woman in Mexico in which he talked “about marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released,” the AP reported, citing the lawsuit.

In January, Castro allegedly fired a gun at a home in north Minneapolis “with the intent to cause fear of immediate bodily harm or death to the four adults who were just inside the door,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a May news conference. The bullet hit Venezuelan migrant Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg before it traveled through a closet and into the wall of a child’s bedroom.

Castro allegedly falsely told federal investigators that Sosa-Celis and another man assaulted him with a broom handle and a snow shovel, prompting him to fire his gun in “self-defense,” Ellison said during a recent news conference.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially claimed that Sosa-Celis tried to “evade arrest” and “began to resist and violently assault” a federal officer. The department alleged that two individuals came out of a nearby apartment before attacking the officer “with a snow shovel and broom handle.”

Sosa-Celis then “got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broomstick,” DHS said at the time.

“Fearing for his life and safety,” the officer “fired a defensive shot” that hit Sosa-Celis in the leg, according to DHS. Sosa-Celis and two others “ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside” before ICE took them into custody.

Then-Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons announced in February a federal probe into the incident after video footage showed that “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements.”

“Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” Lyons said at the time.

“The men and women of ICE are entrusted with upholding the rule of law and are held to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct,” he said. “Violations of this sacred sworn oath will not be tolerated. ICE remains fully committed to transparency, accountability, and the fair enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.”

A federal judge later dismissed the charges against the two migrants after the video footage emerged.

Authorities arrested Castro in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29. Four days later, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz asked Abbott to extradite Castro.