Minnesota sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday, seeking to force the Republican governor to extradite a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent facing assault charges over the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis.
Christian Castro, 52, has been held in a Texas county jail near the Mexican border for nearly three months after Texas Rangers arrested him on May 29 under a warrant issued by a Minnesota judge.
Castro is wanted in Minnesota over the January 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa Celis during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the state, which sparked weeks of protests.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed the federal lawsuit, accusing Abbott of refusing to honour the state’s extradition request. Ellison warned that Castro could be released from the Texas jail next week under state law if Abbott does not sign the required rendition warrant after 90 days.
“Christian Castro could walk free from jail in Texas and flee justice in Minnesota, including by leaving the country,” Ellison said.
The U.S. Constitution and federal law generally require states to extradite people wanted for crimes in another state. Minnesota is asking a federal judge to order Abbott to sign the warrant, arguing that doing so is a mandatory obligation under federal and Texas law.
Abbott’s office declined to comment on the pending extradition case.
Castro was charged by Hennepin County prosecutors with four counts of second degree assault with a dangerous weapon and falsely reporting a crime. Prosecutors allege that his account of being attacked by Sosa-Celis and others with a snow shovel and broom was disproved by video evidence.
Federal prosecutors subsequently dismissed criminal charges against Sosa Celis, while Castro was suspended by the Department of Homeland Security.
The case has intensified the political divide over Trump’s immigration policies. Abbott has strongly supported ICE and the administration’s deportation campaign, while Minnesota Democratic officials have challenged the conduct of federal immigration agents operating in Minneapolis.
Castro is the second federal immigration agent charged this year by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.
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