Minnesota officials sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday, accusing the Republican governor of unlawfully refusing to extradite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who faces criminal charges stemming from the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Christian Castro, 52, has been charged with four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting.
Texas Rangers arrested Castro in May, and he has remained in a south Texas jail since then.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, requested Castro’s extradition in June. Abbott, however, has yet to sign the warrant necessary to transfer the ICE officer to Minnesota.
Mary Moriarty, a Minnesota county attorney, formally requested Abbott’s signature on the extradition paperwork on July 30 so Castro could be returned to the state and face the charges against him.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison escalated the dispute Tuesday by filing a lawsuit in federal court in Texas. Ellison argued that Abbott’s refusal to approve the extradition is “unconstitutional and violates federal law and Texas law.”
“Governor Abbott is trying to shield Castro from being held accountable for these serious charges by refusing to extradite him to Minnesota,” Ellison said in a statement.
The Hill reached out to Abbott’s office for comment.
Castro’s charges stem from the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, during Operation Metro Surge, a Trump administration immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota.
The shooting occurred one week after an ICE officer shot and killed U.S. citizen Renee Good, an incident that sparked protests and outrage across the country.
Prosecutors allege Castro was pursuing Venezuelan immigrant Alfredo Aljorna following a car chase when Aljorna ran into his home in north Minneapolis.
According to prosecutors, Castro allegedly fired his weapon through the home’s front door and struck Sosa-Celis, Aljorna’s roommate, in the leg.
Federal prosecutors initially brought charges against both Aljorna and Sosa-Celis after Castro told investigators that he discharged his weapon while he was being attacked.
Those charges, however, were later dropped after police video emerged that authorities said showed a different account of what happened during the encounter.
Castro now remains jailed in Texas while Minnesota officials seek to bring him back to the state for prosecution.
The lawsuit puts the extradition dispute directly before a federal court, with Ellison contending that Abbott does not have the legal authority to prevent Castro’s transfer to Minnesota to answer the criminal charges filed against him.
