Minnesota AG sues Texas Gov. Abbott to force extradition of ICE agent charged in Minneapolis shooting
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to get a federal agent charged in a January shooting brought back to Minnesota.
Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty filed the lawsuit to force Abbott to sign extradition papers for Christian Castro, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Castro is charged in the nonfatal shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis on Jan. 14 in Hennepin County and is accused of lying to the FBI about the encounter.
"Christian Castro has been charged with breaking the law in Minnesota," Ellison said at an Aug. 18 news conference. "He must face justice in Minnesota. Gov. Abbott should have granted Gov. Walz's extradition request long ago and is required to do so now."
According to Ellison, Castro told the FBI that Sosa-Celis and another man came at him with a broom and shovel before he fired his service weapon. Sosa-Celis and the other man were charged as well, but those cases were dismissed after surveillance video contradicted Castro's account.
Castro was arrested May 29 by Texas Rangers on a warrant issued in Hennepin County. He has been held at the Cameron County jail, and the lawsuit asks a court to stop the Cameron County Sheriff's Office from letting him go.
There is a reason for the urgency. Texas law generally allows a fugitive to be held no longer than 90 days while waiting for extradition. That deadline falls on Aug. 26, according to Ellison, and if Castro is not turned over by then, he could be released — and, because the jail is on the U.S.-Mexico border, he could flee to Mexico.
Abbott's office said it would not comment on pending extradition matters.
The case is an unusual legal collision between two states. Extradition disputes are rare, and while the U.S. Constitution says governors must hand over fugitives, courts have often been cautious about forcing them to do so. That could make Ellison's lawsuit a test of whether that constitutional duty can be enforced when a governor declines to act. For now, Castro remains in custody in Texas, and the clock is ticking.