Judge denies Minnesota’s bid to compel the extradition of an ICE officer from Texas

Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty holds up a document containing charges against ICE agent Christian Castro during a news conference at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, on Monday, May 18, 2026. (Renée Jones Schneider/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP,File)

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BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday refused to order Texas to extradite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

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U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. wrote in an order that he couldn’t prevent a county sheriff from releasing Christian Castro or order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant.

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The Cameron County sheriff said he would release Castro on Thursday morning.

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Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.

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Castro is accused of firing a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg. Prosecutors say Castro also falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

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After a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant for Castro’s arrest in May, authorities, including…

Original source: https://apnews.com/business