Texas judge lets ICE officer charged in Minneapolis shooting leave jail after extradition bid stalls
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged in a Minneapolis shooting walked out of a Texas jail on Thursday after a federal judge refused to
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged in a Minneapolis shooting walked out of a Texas jail on Thursday after a federal judge refused to keep him locked up while Minnesota pressed to bring him back. Christian Castro left the Cameron County detention center in Brownsville just after dawn and climbed into an SUV as cameras gathered outside.
The release follows a ruling by U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who said on Wednesday he could not stop the county sheriff from releasing Castro or order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign an extradition warrant. The judge also said Minnesota’s request was not yet ready for a court decision.
Charges tied to January raid
Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime over the Jan. 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio César Sosa-Celis. Prosecutors say Castro fired through the front door of a Minneapolis home and hit Sosa-Celis in the leg.
He also faces accusations that he falsely blamed Sosa-Celis and another man for attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel. Investigators said camera footage helped show that account was untrue. Short version: that claim did not hold up.
The case has drawn wider attention because it comes out of a period of stepped-up immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. The shooting happened during an operation tied to the Trump administration’s mass deportation push, part of a broader national crackdown that has stirred sharp debate in the United States and beyond over the role of federal agents in local policing.
Held in Texas since May
Castro had been detained in Cameron County Jail since his arrest in Texas on May 29. Minnesota officials sought his return multiple times, but the sheriff said he would release him on Thursday morning after the judge declined to grant an immediate hold.
The legal fight now shifts back to Minnesota, where Castro still faces the assault and false-reporting charges. The extradition dispute also underscores how state and federal systems can collide when a criminal case crosses state lines. Those clashes can move slowly. Very slowly.
Castro did not speak publicly as he left the jail, making a brief motion toward reporters before getting into the vehicle and driving off. For now, the Minnesota case remains open, and the question of whether Texas will eventually hand him over has not been resolved.
