Minnesota sues Governor Abbott to compel extradition of ICE agent charged with shooting

Minnesota officials filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, to compel Texas Governor Greg Abbott to extradite a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged with shooting a man in Minneapolis and later lying about the incident. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, seeks to force the extradition of 52-year-old Christian Castro, who has been held in a Texas jail since his arrest in late May.

Castro faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with a January 14 shooting in Minneapolis. According to court documents, Castro fired a gun through the front door of an occupied home, striking Julio Cesar SosaCelis, a Venezuelan man, in the leg. The bullet also lodged in the wall of a child's bedroom. Prosecutors allege Castro then falsely claimed he had been attacked with a broom and a snow shovel before firing. Surveillance footage later contradicted his account, and federal charges against the two men he accused were dropped.

Castro was arrested by the Texas Rangers in Cameron County on May 29. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sent an extradition request to Abbott's...