Minnesota officials have initiated a lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a bid to secure the extradition of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. The officer, Christian Castro, is accused of injuring a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year and allegedly providing false accounts regarding the incident.
The federal lawsuit, lodged in the Southern District of Texas, represents a significant development in a prolonged effort by Minnesota authorities to bring the 52-year-old Castro into custody. He faces multiple charges, including four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.
According to the lawsuit, federal law mandates cooperation between states on extradition requests. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison emphasized this point, stating, “Abbott’s refusal to extradite Castro is unconstitutional and violates federal law and Texas law. I will not stand for that, so I’m taking Abbott to court.”
Initially, Abbott’s office refrained from commenting on the ongoing extradition issue. However, during an unrelated press conference, the governor expressed his discontent regarding the situation. “While they’re making demands, I got a demand of my own and that is: It’s time for Minnesota to step up and repay the United States of America and Americans for all the fraud that they have committed in their state under federal programs,” Abbott stated. “I will not respond to them at all until they step up and do what’s right, and they acknowledge their fault in the fraud that took place.”
The Trump administration previously justified a significant immigration enforcement operation, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, in Minnesota, linking it to a welfare fraud scandal. This operation resulted in several violent incidents involving immigration agents, including two fatalities of U.S. citizens.
On May 18, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced the charges against Castro, four months after he allegedly fired into an occupied residence during Operation Metro Surge, injuring Julio Sosa-Celis. Castro claimed he was attacked by Sosa-Celis and another individual wielding a shovel and a broom. However, surveillance footage contradicted his version of events, as noted in court documents.
After Castro’s arrest by the Texas Rangers in Cameron County in late May, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz submitted an extradition request to Abbott.
Typically, Abbott has approved extradition warrants from Minnesota within roughly 30 days, but in this instance, officials from Minnesota noted he had not complied. Last week, Ellison issued a letter urging Abbott to sign the extradition documents for Castro by Monday afternoon or face legal repercussions.
Ellison asserted in the letter, “The duty to extradite is ministerial and non-discretionary. Federal courts have the power to enforce a governor’s duty to extradite a fugitive, and a governor has no power to refuse to extradite a fugitive based on the merits of the fugitive’s case.”
In the recent lawsuit, the Minnesota attorney general described Abbott’s inaction regarding Castro’s extradition as “unusual and inconsistent” with the generally prompt cooperation between the two states. Ellison pointed out that Abbott’s office had previously complied with extradition requests for other defendants from Minnesota, including individuals facing similar charges.
The urgency for action is heightened, as the lawsuit highlights that Texas cannot detain someone awaiting extradition for more than 90 days. Furthermore, the lawsuit names Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino to prevent Castro’s release prior to his extradition to Minnesota.
The lawsuit warns, “If Defendants are permitted to release Castro from custody before turning him over to agents of Minnesota for extradition, there is a substantial risk that Castro will flee and avoid prosecution in Minnesota.”
As of now, Sheriff Trevino has not responded to requests for comment.
This lawsuit is not the first legal action taken by Minnesota officials regarding the prosecution of the shooting incident involving Sosa-Celis. In March, both the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the state of Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking access to evidence related to Sosa-Celis’ case, as well as the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in January.
Moreover, following the July shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE agent in Houston, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare reached out to Hennepin County prosecutors for insights, acknowledging their expertise in such matters.
