Ex-ICE agent charged over shooting is freed by Texas authorities

By Al Jazeera Staff and The Associated Press. Published On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026.

Key points

• Castro was freed on Thursday morning from the Carrizales-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center near Brownsville, Texas, a city on the US border with Mexico.
• The immigration sweep was part of a mass deportation effort under United States President Donald Trump.
• Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a request for a temporary restraining order last week to block Castro's anticipated release.
• Under Texas law, the state cannot hold the subject of an extradition order for more than 90 days.
• Beginning in December, Trump orchestrated a large-scale deployment of federal agents to Minnesota.

In practice, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer charged with shooting a Venezuelan man and allegedly lying regarding it during an immigration raid in Minneapolis was issued from a Texas jail a day after a federal judge refused to order his return to the US state of Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the former ICE agent, Christian Castro, had been detained in a county jail in Texas since May, charged in connection with the nonfatal shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and hitting him in the leg when firing through the front door of his home during an immigration crackdown in Minnesota on January 14.

Meanwhile, the immigration sweep was part of a mass deportation effort under United States President Donald Trump. Prosecutors remarked Castro wrongfully accused Sosa-Celis and another man of assaulting an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

Castro was freed on Thursday morning from the Carrizales-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center near Brownsville, Texas, a city on the US border with Mexico. A Minnesota judge had issued a nationwide warrant for his arrest in May. Minnesota authorities and the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension eventually detained him in Texas on May 29. Minnesota authorities then sought his extradition.

Under Texas law, the state cannot hold the subject of an extradition order for more than 90 days. At that point, the suspect must either be transferred or published. The deadline for Castro expired on Thursday.

Upon exiting the detention centre, Castro motioned towards a few camera operators and a reporter crowding around him and rapidly secured into an SUV that drove off.

In a ruling on Wednesday, District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr wrote that he could not intervene or prevent a county sheriff from releasing Castro given that Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican and close political ally of Trump, had refused to sign the extradition warrant for political reasons. Abbott argued that he is waiting for the outcome of an internal state investigation considering whether Castro was legally a "fugitive" under the Extradition Clause, lawyers for the state of Texas remarked.

Notably, the governor additionally stated last week that he would not respond to the extradition request, citing ongoing investigations into alleged fraud in Minnesota's social service programmes. It trump applied to justify his immigration crackdown there.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a request for a temporary restraining order last week to block Castro's anticipated release. He additionally sued Abbott to try to force his hand at signing the extradition warrant.

Ellison remarked Abbott's inaction unlawfully sidestepped federal extradition to bolster Trump's deportation campaign. He declared that legal proceedings would persist but omitted specifying what those future actions would entail.

Beginning in December, Trump orchestrated a large-scale deployment of federal agents to Minnesota. The operation lasted less than three months and fuelled protests and allegations of civil liberties violations from residents and watchdog groups. Two US citizens were killed by federal agents during the operation.

Minnesota authorities have cautioned that Castro may flee the US if published, citing calls he produced from jail to a woman in Mexico.

During those calls, Castro talked "about marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released", according to Minnesota's lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the judge conceded that Castro could indeed flee the country but continued that "the threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication".

Taken together, the developments around ex-ICE agent charged over shooting is freed by Texas authorities point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.