Texas ICE officer freed after failed Minnesota extradition request for shooting
Washington Examiner · RC · trust 59/100
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro was released from a Texas jail Thursday after a federal judge blocked Minnesota’s effort to extradite him over charges stemming from a shooting during an immigration enforcement operation.
Castro, who spent 90 days in a Brownsville, Texas , jail, left the facility in an SUV as cameras and reporters surrounded him.
Minnesota prosecutors charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Castro allegedly shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh while pursuing another man. Sosa-Celis was in the country illegally at the time, according to officials.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro gets into a car surrounded by news reporters moments after being released from the Carrizalez-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center in Brownsville, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
After a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant for Castro’s arrest in May, authorities, including the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, arrested him in Cameron County, Texas, on May 29. Minnesota officials have sought to extradite Castro since his arrest, but he remained in custody as the dispute over his surrender played out in court. Under Texas law, Castro would be freed 90 days after arrest.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) sued Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) last week, arguing that Abbott’s failure to sign an extradition warrant was preventing the state from prosecuting Castro.
But U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled Wednesday that Minnesota’s lawsuit was premature. Rodriguez found that Abbott had not denied Minnesota’s extradition request. Instead, Abbott had directed the Texas secretary of state to investigate Minnesota’s request and provide him with information to determine whether Castro should be surrendered.
“The Court concludes that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the case is not ripe for adjudication,” Rodriguez wrote. “Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may violate those authorities in the future; it must prove that a violation has already occurred.”
Minnesota argued that Castro could flee to Mexico if released, pointing to phone conversations he had with a woman who lives there. The Brownsville jail is near the Texas-Mexico border, though it was unclear Thursday whether Castro had left the area or fled the country.
Rodriguez acknowledged that Castro’s potential flight could significantly hinder Minnesota’s prosecution.
“The Court agrees that Castro’s flight to Mexico would impose a hardship on Minnesota’s prosecutorial efforts,” Rodriguez wrote, adding that the difficulty would not undermine his legal analysis.
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