A federal immigration agent in custody at a Texas jail, now at the center of an interstate clash over his shooting of a man while on duty, has discussed plans to relocate to a Mexican beach town with his extramarital girlfriend, Minnesota investigators told a federal judge.
Minnesota attorneys are raising that issue in court records to bolster their argument that Christian Castro, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who is poised to be released this week under a state law, should be quickly transferred back north to prevent him from fleeing a criminal case.
Minnesota state officials sued last week and are asking a federal judge to force Texas to turn over Castro, in a case with political overtones in the face of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in Democratic-led states.
Castro was charged four months after the shooting and was arrested May 29 in Texas on a nationwide warrant from Minnesota.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded in a court filing this week that he is not convinced Castro is truly a fugitive and that he has chosen not to approve the extradition, turning what is normally a mere formality into a legal battle.
“The governor may ultimately decide that Mr. Castro is a fugitive who must be surrendered, but the interests of justice do not require treating Governor Walz’s accusation as sufficient by itself,” Texas state lawyers wrote.
Attorneys on both sides presented arguments Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Brownsville, Texas. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. did not immediately issue a ruling.
But time is of the essence, as Texas law caps jail time in these situations at 90 days — meaning Castro could be released as early as this week.
Filings made in recent days provide more details on what happened in the aftermath of a violent episode on Jan. 14 during Operation Metro Surge, when the Trump administration flooded Minneapolis with roving deportation patrols that arrested immigrants and confronted locals who witnessed the abductions.
Castro, 52, was criminally charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime after he chased a man to his Minneapolis home, pulled out his gun and shot through the front door, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The bullet struck a Venezuelan man, Julio Sosa-Celis, in the leg and got lodged in the wall of a child’s room inside, the office said.
Castro said he was attacked by men on the home’s front lawn, and the Department of Homeland Security published an official statement that said, “Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life.”
However, county investigators later determined Castro was “not hit with any shovels, brooms, or weapons of any kind at any time” and fired his weapon at a man who was fleeing.
In a declaration filed in the case, Patrick Divver, an ICE operations director who oversaw Operation Metro Surge on the ground, said he transferred Castro back to his home station in Harlingen, Texas, two days after the shooting.
Upon his return, Castro tried to reenter the home he shared with a woman he was divorcing — only to have her seek a restraining order against him, according to the wife’s divorce lawyer, Jaime Morales. The restraining order, obtained by NOTUS, was approved May 27. A judge intervened and approved her changing the locks.
Two days later, Texas Rangers and investigators with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrested Castro and booked him at the Cameron County Jail, where he has been for nearly three months.
New documents show that on June 4, Castro refused to sign a form consenting his voluntary return to Minnesota.
Castro has remained under surveillance by ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates potential misconduct by employees. The agency provided Minnesota state investigators with readouts of his jail calls with a girlfriend who they say lives in Progreso, a beach enclave on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Investigators said in court documents that Castro talked about the Jeep he left with her and has discussed buying a home where he plans to live there. According to court documents, DHS internal affairs also discovered that Castro submitted a national security questionnaire in which he failed to disclose trips outside the United States and the fact that he was in constant contact with a foreign national — his Mexican girlfriend.
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