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On Tuesday, the state of Minnesota sued the state of Texas, seeking to compel Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) to extradite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who has been charged with shooting a Minneapolis resident and falsifying a report about the incident.
Amid large-scale federal immigration raids across the Twin Cities in January, ICE agent Christian Castro approached a home and shot a bullet through its front door, injuring Minneapolis resident Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Following this incident, Castro filed a report claiming that Sosa-Celis and another individual had attacked a separate ICE agent using a broom handle and a snow shovel in the lead-up to the shooting. It was later discovered that Castro’s story was a complete fabrication.
An investigation into the agent’s actions soon followed, and on May 18, felony level charges relating to the shooting and falsified report were filed against Castro. He was arrested on May 29 in Texas, and Minnesota officials filed an extradition request on June 2.
Despite Abbott’s assurances that Castro would be extradited, Castro remains in a Texas jail two months later. Under state law, he could soon be released, after which arresting him again could prove difficult, especially if he flees the country.
Extradition between states is a requirement of the U.S. Constitution. According to Article IV, Section 2:
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A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.
In an attempt to force Casto’s extradition, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. In a press conference on Tuesday announcing the lawsuit, Ellison explained that Abbott and other officials in the Lone Star State must release Castro to Minnesota authorities, to be officially arraigned on the charges against him.
“Christian Castro has been charged with breaking the law in Minnesota. He must face justice in Minnesota,” Ellison said at the presser. “Gov. Abbott should have granted Gov. Walz’s extradition request long ago and is required to do so now.”
“Christian Castro is not above the law, and Greg Abbott isn’t either,” Ellison added.
Abbott’s office has stated that the governor will not discuss “pending extradition matters” with the media.
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