On January 14, in the midst of the violence, confusion, and unrest of Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Christian Castro attempted to apprehend Venezuelan Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, whom the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially described as a criminal illegal alien. In the execution of this arrest, Castro fired one shot toward the front door, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg. Sosa-Celis attempted to flee the scene, and Castro pursued him. Castro later said he fired after being attacked with a broom and shovel, though the state says the video and physical evidence contradict that account.
Sosa-Celis and his buddies were ultimately apprehended, as this DHS X post detailed:
All three of the illegal aliens involved in last night's violent attack on law enforcement were let into our country by the Biden administration.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 15, 2026
Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela, previously convicted for driving without a license and arrested for… https://t.co/kpCVQPmirl pic.twitter.com/x8y1h4jvNh
All three of the illegal aliens involved in last night's violent attack on law enforcement were let into our country by the Biden administration.
Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela, previously convicted for driving without a license and arrested for two counts of giving a false name to a peace officer, was the subject of a targeted enforcement operation.
He was released by Minnesota authorities before ICE could even lodge a detainer. Sosa-Celis illegally entered the United States in August 2022 under the Biden administration.
The other two individuals involved are Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma.
The problem is Castro allegedly wrongfully discharged his firearm and misrepresented his facts. Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty filed charges against Castro for four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime. In May, a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Castro, and on May 29, Castro was detained in Texas. Minnesota officials demanded TX Gov. Greg Abbott extradite Castro, but those demands fell on deaf ears.
Was Castro's behavior — if the allegations are borne out — dishonoring to the badge? Definitely. Does he deserve to be extradited just to give the Minnesota activists a notch in their belt? Probably not.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis was released from a Texas jail Thursday, after a judge refused to order his return to Minnesota.
Christian Castro was released at the break of dawn from a detention center in Brownsville. He motioned his hand toward a few camera operators and a reporter crowding around him and quickly got into an SUV that drove off.
A day earlier, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. wrote in an order that said he couldn’t prevent a county sheriff from releasing Castro or order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant.
MN Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison went on a campaign to force Abbott to extradite Castro, acting as though Castro was some common violent thug with a long criminal history rather than an ICE agent accused of using unjustified force during a chaotic attempted arrest.
As RedState reported, Abbott responded thusly:
"I don't trust Tim Walz on anything, let alone something like this... While they're making demands, I got a demand of my own, and that is, it's time for Minnesota to step up and repay the United States of America and Americans for all the fraud that they have committed in their state under federal programs. I will not respond to them at all until they step up and do what's right, and they acknowledge their fault in the fraud that took place, and they fully repay the United States of America for the fraud they committed."
The case went to federal court, and attorneys for Texas argued that Gov. Abbott was not denying extradition; he was simply awaiting the outcome of an internal state investigation on whether Castro was legally a fugitive under the Extradition Clause.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. wrote in a Wednesday order that the court could not step in just yet.
The Court concludes that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the case is not ripe for adjudication,” the order read. “Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may violate those authorities in the future; it must prove that a violation has already occurred.
Judge Rodriguez concluded that the law does not dictate how long Abbott can take in making a decision. As RedState reported:
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. on Wednesday denied Minnesota’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have forced Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to sign an extradition warrant for ICE agent Christian Castro. Alternatively, the TRO would have required Cameron County authorities to keep Castro locked up until Abbott acted.
Under Texas law, after 90 days of detention, Castro had to be released. Those 90 days ended on Thursday, and Castro was released from a Brownsville detention center. The corrupt Minnesota crew of Moriarty and Ellison assume that Castro could flee to Mexico because of phone calls Castro made from jail. According to the lawsuit, Castro had conversations with a woman in Mexico where he talked about “marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released.”
Hennepin County Attorney calls on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to turn over violent fugitive: pic.twitter.com/MadkUCun2s
— Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty (@HennepinAtty) August 26, 2026
The judge conceded that Castro could flee the country but added that “the threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication.”
Isn't it ironic that Minnesota elected officials like Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, and Mary Moriarty aid and abet criminal illegals, allowing them to remain in the United States and commit crimes, while actively blocking federal law enforcement efforts to remove them, yet they are clutching the pearls over an American citizen acting in the course of his job being able to flee to Mexico in order to avoid criminal charges?
What a twisted web.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
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