Ex-ICE agent charged in Minnesota shooting released in Texas

A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged in a nonfatal shooting during an immigration raid in Minnesota walked out of a Texas jail Thursday after a federal judge declined to force Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to approve his extradition.

Christian Castro had been held at the Carrizales-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center near Brownsville since May. He was released because Texas law bars the state from holding the subject of an extradition request for more than 90 days without transferring or freeing the person. Castro’s 90-day deadline expired Thursday.

Castro is charged in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a 24-year-old Venezuelan man, during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Prosecutors say Castro fired through the front door of Sosa-Celis’s home and struck him in the leg. They also say Castro wrongfully accused Sosa-Celis and another man of assaulting an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

A Minnesota judge issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Castro in May. Minnesota officials and the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension detained him in Texas on May 29 and sought his return to face the charges.

But Abbott, a Republican and ally of President Donald Trump, has not signed the extradition warrant. Lawyers for Texas said Abbott is waiting for the outcome of an internal state investigation into whether Castro is legally a “fugitive” under extradition law. Abbott also said last week he would not respond to the extradition request, citing ongoing investigations into alleged fraud in Minnesota social service programs, Al Jazeera reported.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled Wednesday that he lacked authority to intervene because Abbott had not formally rejected Minnesota’s request and federal extradition law sets no explicit deadline for a governor to act.

“Minnesota’s argument effectively asks the Court to impose into the Extradition Clause, the Extradition Act, and the UCEA a deadline for a state governor to sign a rendition warrant or decline to do so,” Rodriguez wrote. “The Court is unaware of any authority supporting the creation of a court-imposed deadline under these circumstances.”

Rodriguez also denied Minnesota’s request to keep Castro jailed while the legal fight continued. The judge acknowledged the possibility that Castro could flee the country but wrote that “the threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison had sought a temporary restraining order to block Castro’s release and sued Abbott in an attempt to compel him to sign the extradition warrant. Ellison said Abbott’s inaction unlawfully sidestepped federal extradition procedures in support of Trump’s deportation campaign. He said legal proceedings would continue but did not specify the next steps.

Minnesota officials have warned that Castro may leave the United States if released. In court filings, they cited jail calls with a woman in Mexico in which Castro discussed “marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released.” Talking Points Memo reported that Minnesota prosecutors said Castro owns property in Mexico and has a romantic partner there.

The immigration sweep in Minnesota was part of a mass deportation effort under Trump. According to Al Jazeera, the large-scale deployment of federal agents to Minnesota began in December, lasted less than three months and prompted protests and allegations of civil liberties violations from residents and watchdog groups. Two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents during the operation, the outlet reported.

As Castro left the detention center Thursday morning, he gestured toward nearby camera operators and a reporter before quickly getting into an SUV that drove away.