Minnesota sues Texas governor to force extradition of ICE officer

Minnesota's attorney general is suing Texas's governor to force the extradition of a federal officer charged with shooting and wounding a man during President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison argued that Texas Governor Greg Abbott has refused to fulfill the 'mandatory' duty to hand over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Christian Castro so he can face court proceedings.

'Governor Abbott has held the warrant and delayed Castro's extradition for nearly three months,' Ellison told reporters Tuesday. 'He does not have the authority to refuse this.'

Ellison also asked a federal district court in southern Texas to order Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino not to release Castro from jail.

Castro's case has become part of a national debate over transparency and excessive force in Trump's mass deportation campaign.

The officer was involved in a January 14 shooting targeting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan man living in Minnesota. Officials allege Castro fired at Sosa-Celis's front door, striking him in the leg.

Initially, the Trump administration said agents fired in self-defense, alleging Sosa-Celis and two others attacked officers with brooms and snow shovels during an immigration enforcement operation.

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem even called the incident an 'intentional murder' of an ICE officer.

But released video contradicted the officers' accounts, and in February, federal prosecutors dropped charges against Sosa-Celis and his housemate Alfredo Aljorna.

In a statement that month, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons confirmed Castro and another ICE officer appeared to have lied about the incident. The two officers were subsequently suspended.

'A joint ICE and Department of Justice (DOJ) review of the video evidence has revealed that the sworn testimony of two separate officers appears to contain dishonest statements,' Lyons said in the statement at the time.

In May, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

'Mr. Castro is an ICE officer. But his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for criminal conduct in Minnesota,' Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement.

Castro was arrested May 29 in Texas and has been in custody since then.

But Ellison expressed concern that Texas officials—including Abbott, an ally of President Trump—might seek to release Castro rather than let him face court.

Minnesota's attorney general described Castro as a flight risk, potentially heading across the border into Mexico.

'We know he has some connections to Mexico, and we know he intends to go to Mexico at some point,' Ellison said. 'So we believe he is a flight risk.'

Abbott's office said in a statement to AP that it would not comment on 'pending extradition matters.'

Under Texas law, Ellison said Castro, 52, could be released as early as next week—90 days after being held—if Abbott does not agree to extradition.

The Sosa-Celis shooting is one of several incidents this year that have raised questions about the use of deadly force in immigration enforcement.

The Minneapolis area was the target of one of Trump's most aggressive immigration enforcement efforts, named Operation Metro Surge.

Running from December through February, Operation Metro Surge saw escalating tactics from immigration officials, including warrantless home searches, which critics have called dangerous.

Two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretty, were killed by agents during protests against the operation.