ICE Agent Charged in Minnesota Shooting May Walk Free from Texas Jail

ICE agent Christian Castro, charged with shooting a man through a door in Minneapolis and lying about it, could be released from a Texas jail unless a federal judge intervenes.

ICE Agent Faces Release as Minnesota and Texas Clash Over Extradition

An ICE agent charged with shooting a man through a front door in Minneapolis and then filing a false report to cover it up could walk free from a South Texas jail as early as Thursday, ABC News US reports.

Christian Castro, an agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, faces assault and false-reporting charges in Minnesota in connection with the January 14 wounding of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, 24. A bullet fired through the front door of a Minneapolis home struck Sosa-Celis in the leg and lodged in a child's bedroom wall. Prosecutors allege Castro subsequently accused Sosa-Celis and a second man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel — a claim authorities say was fabricated.

Castro has been held in Brownsville, Texas, a border city near Mexico, since his arrest. Minnesota authorities have sought his extradition, but the transfer has not taken place.

Under Texas law, Castro must be released after 90 days of detention — a deadline that falls on Thursday. Minnesota's governor and attorney general filed a federal lawsuit seeking to compel Texas to return Castro and to prevent the Cameron County sheriff from releasing him before extradition can be carried out.

At a federal hearing Tuesday in Brownsville, attorneys from the Minnesota Attorney General's Office told U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. that releasing Castro would make it significantly harder to bring him to trial — and that the risk of flight would complicate matters further. Rodriguez said he was inclined not to block the sheriff from releasing Castro, but indicated he would issue a written order Wednesday responding to the temporary restraining order request.

Attorneys for the Texas Governor's Office argued the lawsuit was premature, saying Gov. Greg Abbott had not yet formally decided whether to grant or deny Minnesota's extradition request. "I think ripeness is a significant issue," Rodriguez told the attorneys in court.

Abbott ordered an internal state investigation last week to determine whether Castro legally qualifies as a "fugitive." His general counsel, Trevor W. Ezell, also challenged whether the court had authority to impose a deadline on the governor to respond to an extradition request. Minnesota's legal team pushed back. "There's nothing legally left for them to investigate," attorney Kimberly Ann Svendsen told the judge.

Abbott said last week he would not act on the extradition request, citing what he described as fraud in Minnesota government social service programs — a claim President Donald Trump has used to justify an immigration enforcement push in the state.

A ruling from Judge Rodriguez is expected Wednesday, one day before the 90-day detention limit expires.

Source: ABC News US