Minnesota Escalates Fight With Abbott Over ICE Agent Accused in Shooting

Minnesota’s attorney general has sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for refusing to extradite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan man in the leg in January.

On Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced he was suing Abbott, saying the governor was “refusing to honor the extradition request” sent by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in June. 

“Gov. Abbott has a mandatory obligation to issue the governor’s rendition warrant for Castro. He has no discretion to decline to do so. None. Yet Castro is still not here to face justice,” Ellison said Tuesday. 

In May, Christian Castro, an ICE agent, was arrested by Texas Rangers near the border on a nationwide warrant issued in Minnesota in connection with the shooting. 

The warrant stemmed from Castro shooting Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg on Jan. 14 in Minneapolis.  

According to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security, Sosa-Celis was an illegal alien living in the country and was attempting to evade arrest. DHS said that when Castro attempted to apprehend him, Sosa-Celis resisted and violently assaulted the agent. During the scuffle, two other individuals allegedly attacked the agent with a snow shovel and a broom handle. DHS said Castro feared for his life and fired a defensive shot that struck Sosa-Celis in the leg. 

Minnesota prosecutors have disputed DHS’ account, saying surveillance footage showed Castro was alone in the front yard when he fired through the front door of the home. Prosecutors said Sosa-Celis and another man did not attack Castro or other agents. 

Castro was subsequently charged with four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime.  

Under the U.S. Constitution and federal law, states are required to extradite people accused of crimes in other states. Ellison says Abbott has refused to respond to Minnesota’s extradition request. 

Notably, under Texas law, a person held on a felony charge must be released on a personal bond after 90 days or have bail reduced if the state is not ready for trial. Ellison said Castro could be released next week.  

Ellison filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Brownsville, Texas, asking a judge to order Abbott to sign the rendition warrant and extradite Castro to Minnesota.  

The Daily Signal reached out to Abbott’s office and was told it would “not comment on pending extradition matters.” The office instead referred to Abbott’s comments made at a press conference Monday.

“Well, first of all, I don’t trust Tim Walz on anything, let alone something like this,” Abbott said to a reporter. “While we’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,” Abbott added.