Minnesota Ag Sues Texas Gov To Force The State To Extradite Ice Agent

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday to force the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged with assault in connection with a non-fatal shooting during an enforcement operation.

In May, Minnesota officials charged Christian Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, alleging that he fired a gun into the front door of a Minneapolis home, striking the leg of Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant. Former acting ICE Director Todd Lyons previously said Castro and another ICE agent lied when they claimed Sosa-Celis had attacked them with a shovel and broom.

It’s the latest legal fallout from Operation Metro Surge, the White House’s December and January push to swell federal authorities to Minneapolis in an attempt to crack down on illegal immigration and crime. Two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal agents as protests ripped through the state. Minnesota officials have spent months pushing for more visibility into the violent incidents.

Castro was arrested in Texas in May. But he has still not been extradited to Minnesota to face charges, Ellison said Tuesday, despite repeated attempts from state officials to compel Abbott to greenlight his extradition.

“Instead of promptly fulfilling his legal, ministerial duty to execute the governor’s rendition warrant for Castro, however, Governor Abbot has withheld the warrant and held up Castro’s extradition for nearly three months,” Ellison told reporters in a press conference.

Abbot and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Ellison said, had long aided each other’s fugitive extradition requests — “until today,” that is.

Abbott’s office declined to comment.

“Christian Castro has been charged with breaking the law in Minnesota,” Ellison said. “He must face justice in Minnesota. Governor Abbott should have granted Governor Walz’s extradition request long ago and is required to do so now.”