‘This is not politics — this is not a game’: Attorney General Ellison statement on freeing of fugitive ICE agent Christian Castro in Texas
‘But Greg Abbott is playing the political game of turning Texas into a sanctuary state for accused felons and violent criminals’
August 27, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued the statement below in response to reports that fugitive ICE agent Christian Castro has been released from a Texas jail.
On May 18, 2026, Christian Castro was charged in Minnesota state court with four felony charges of assault related to his shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis on January 14, during Operation Metro Surge. Castro was arrested in Texas on May 29. Because Texas Governor Greg Abbott has refused to sign Minnesota’s promptly-issued extradition warrant for Castro, which he has a black-letter duty to do under the U.S. Constitution and federal and Texas law, Attorney General Ellison sued Abbott to force him to do so last week. Yesterday, a federal district court denied Minnesota’s request for emergency relief to compel Governor Abbott to sign Minnesota’s extradition warrant, which he has refused to do for close to three months, and to keep Castro in custody until Abbott signs it, since Castro was on the verge of being released under Texas law. The district court denied the motion as not “ripe.” As Minnesota warned, Castro was released today.
I’m very disturbed to learn of Christian Castro’s release from a Texas jail today. He is charged with four serious felonies in Minnesota for his actions during Operation Metro Surge and is a fugitive from justice by every definition. Minnesota quickly and properly submitted an extradition request that Governor Abbott ignored, then offered bogus excuses for not signing that have no basis in law or Supreme Court precedent. In a social media post yesterday, he wasted no time in publicly revealing his political motivations for not signing.
When we asked for emergency relief, the court found yesterday that our request was not “ripe” and came too early in the process. Yet today, Castro has been released.
Federal law, the laws of every state, and the U.S. Constitution require states to extradite fugitives, period. This is not politics — this is not a game. There are traumatized victims in Minnesota awaiting accountability and justice. But Greg Abbott is playing the political game of turning Texas into a sanctuary state for accused felons and violent criminals. This hurts the victims of crime and hurts the residents of Texas.
Christian Castro is a fugitive from justice who still must answer for his crimes in Minnesota. He should turn himself today in to face them. In the meantime, we will continue our lawsuit to force Abbott to do his legal and constitutional duty. I will never stop pursuing Castro wherever he may be to make him face justice in Minnesota.
