Minnesota officials are suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to force him to approve the extradition of a federal immigration agent arrested in Texas after allegedly shooting a man during a January enforcement operation in Minneapolis and later lying about what happened.
, filed Tuesday by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in federal court, accuses Abbott of unlawfully delaying the extradition of Christian Castro, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who has been held in a Cameron County jail since his arrest in late May.
鈥淐hristian Castro has been charged with breaking the law in Minnesota,鈥� Ellison . 鈥淗e must face justice in Minnesota.鈥�
Ellison is asking the court to require Abbott to sign the warrant needed for Minnesota authorities to take custody of Castro. In , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that extradition is a mandatory duty and that federal courts can compel governors to comply with it.
, a person arrested on an out-of-state warrant can generally be held for up to 90 days while awaiting a governor鈥檚 extradition warrant. If Abbott doesn鈥檛 act, Ellison said Castro could be released from custody in Texas as early as next week.
The lawsuit also names Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino as a defendant and seeks to prevent Castro from being freed while the extradition dispute plays out.
Abbott鈥檚 office declined to comment Tuesday on 鈥減ending extradition matters.鈥� Sheriff Trevino also declined to comment.
Castro faces with a dangerous weapon and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
According to court records, Castro was trying to arrest Alfredo Aljorna after a vehicle pursuit ended outside Aljorna鈥檚 Minneapolis home, where his roommate, Sosa-Celis, was standing with a snow shovel.
Castro initially told investigators he fired after Sosa-Celis and others attacked agents with a broom and shovel. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Aljorna and Sosa-Celis with assaulting a law enforcement officer based on that account.
But prosecutors later said and witness accounts . The charges against Aljorna and Sosa-Celis were , and ICE placed Castro on leave while it investigated the shooting.
Minnesota prosecutors charged Castro on May 18 and Texas Rangers arrested him in Cameron County less than two weeks later.
The lawsuit comes amid mounting pressure on Abbott to act. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sent Abbott in early June and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty Abbott earlier this month to approve the extradition. Last week, all 13 Texas Democrats in Congress.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he contacted Abbott on Monday and gave him until the end of the day to approve the extradition, warning that Minnesota would sue. Abbott did not sign the warrant.
鈥淚 should never have had to file this lawsuit, but I have done so today to protect the Constitution,鈥� Ellison said. 鈥淐hristian Castro is not above the law and Greg Abbott isn鈥檛 either.鈥�
