'Playing With Constitutional Fire': Texas Gov. Abbott Lets ICE Agent Wanted in Minnesota Walk Free

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accused of shooting an unarmed man in Minneapolis and then lying about the incident walked free from a jail in Texas on Thursday as Gov. Greg Abbott refuses to honor Minnesota's extradition request.

Christian Castro, 52, was released from the Cameron County jail shortly after dawn, roughly three months after his May 29 arrest on a Minnesota warrant. Castro faces four felony counts of second-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime.

Hennepin County, Minnesota prosecutors allege that Castro fired through the front door of a Minneapolis home, striking 24-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Julio César Sosa-Celis in the leg on January 14 during the Operation Metro Surge enforcement blitz in the Twin Cities Area, part of the Trump administration's deadly mass deportation effort.

Castro claimed afterward that Sosa-Celis and another man had attacked an ICE officer with a broom and snow shovel—an account investigators say was contradicted by surveillance footage, witness statements, and physical evidence. Criminal charges initially filed against Sosa-Celis were later dismissed.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. of the Southern District of Texas—an appointee of President Donald Trump—denied Minnesota's request for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented Castro's release and declined to compel Abbott to sign the extradition warrant. The Republican governor has so far not yet formally responded Minnesota's extradition request.

Abbott has argued that Castro did not flee Minnesota to escape prosecution but was instead ordered back to Texas by federal authorities. And while Rodriguez acknowledged the possibility that Castro could flee to Mexico, the judge concluded that the court lacked any authority to force Abbott to act before he makes his decision on extradition.

The Texas governor has also attempted to condition resolution of the extradition request upon Minnesota officials' acknowledgment of the alleged fraud Trump used as a pretext for Operation Metro Surge.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, denounced Castro's release in a social media post asserting that "Greg Abbott has a black-letter legal and constitutional duty to sign the rendition warrant to return fugitive Christian Castro to Minnesota—full stop."

"By refusing to extradite Castro, Greg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals," Ellison added. "Regardless of today’s ruling, I will keep fighting so that Agent Castro will face justice in Minnesota."

Abbott retorted: "You guys are such bad lawyers. You showed up unprepared, uninformed, and unpersuasive. You don't know the law, and it showed."

Minnesota "is the literal definition of a sanctuary state because you refuse to assist in enforcing immigration laws," the Texas governor said. Minnesota does not have a statewide sanctuary law.

"I'll put Minneapolis at the top of the list for future bus drop-offs if we ever have a president like Joe Biden again," Abbott added, referring to his deadly campaign of busing migrants to Democrat-led sanctuary cities and even the home of former Vice President Kamala Harris at a cost to Texas taxpayers of over $221 million.

Anders Folk, a former federal prosecutor now running for Hennepin County attorney, agreed with Ellison, writing on X that "Gov. Abbott is playing political games."

"Christian Castro should be extradited to Minnesota to stand trial," he added. "Accountability requires nothing less. This ruling essentially makes Texas a sanctuary state for ICE agents accused of violating state law."