ICE Agent Arrested in Texas for Shooting Venezuelan Man During Immigration Crackdown

Federal Agent Captured After Manhunt

Christian Castro, the ICE agent charged with shooting Julio Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge and lying about the circumstances, was arrested in Texas Friday. Castro, 52, was taken into custody Friday by Texas Rangers who executed the nationwide arrest warrant issued for Castro by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office last week. The BCA agents who tracked Castro to Texas lacked the jurisdictional authority to detain him, but were present when he was taken into custody, alongside agents with the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General. An official at the Cameron County jail confirmed Castro was being held there.

Castro was taken into custody by law enforcement officials from Texas and Minnesota Friday morning on charges of assault in the second degree and falsely reporting a crime in connection with the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis during an attempted immigration arrest on Jan. 14. Castro is accused of firing a gunshot into a home, knowing it was occupied by multiple people and injuring Sosa-Celis, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. The arrest comes amid growing scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement tactics that have sparked nationwide protests and legal challenges.

Operation Metro Surge Under Fire

On December 4, 2025, DHS announced Operation Metro Surge, and on January 6, 2026, DHS announced an expansion of the effort to what it called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, sending 2,000 agents to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The shooting took place amid a flurry of use of force incidents during Operation Metro Surge, which saw thousands of federal agents dispatched to the Twin Cities. The operations sparked weeks of protests and prompted lawsuits from both the state and city governments.

Sosa-Celis and his roommate, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, were initially charged with assaulting a federal officer as Trump administration officials widely publicized their mug shots; former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused them of an act of "attempted murder." The charges were later dropped when video evidence directly contradicted the story given by federal officers. In a statement to CNN, a DHS spokesperson called Castro's arrest "unlawful" and a "political stunt," saying the agent's actions should be handled at the federal, not state level.

Operation Metro Surge cost Minneapolis more than $200 million for the month of January 2026. Local businesses lost $81 million in revenue, and workers lost $47 million in wages. The economic toll reflects broader community disruption as immigrants stayed home and businesses shuttered during the intensive enforcement period.

Pattern of Violence Emerges

Renée Good, a 33-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on January 7. And Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was fatally shot by two DHS officers on January 24. In both those cases, the government's original accounts of the shootings faced scrutiny as videos and witness accounts emerged. These incidents transformed what began as immigration enforcement into a broader confrontation between federal authorities and local communities.

Castro is the second federal agent to be criminally charged for conduct during Operation Metro Surge, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. Last month, another ICE agent was charged with felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. The agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., was accused of pointing a gun at the heads of two civilians in a vehicle, Moriarty said in April.

State Versus Federal Authority

The Castro arrest highlights the unprecedented nature of state prosecutors charging federal agents for actions taken during immigration enforcement. When Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the charges against Castro, the Department of Homeland Security referred to it as an unlawful "political stunt." But a DHS spokesperson also said the U.S. Attorney's Office is currently investigating Castro and other agents over lying under oath about the shooting of Sosa-Celis and the officers may face d isciplinary action.

This legal confrontation represents a broader constitutional question about whether states can hold federal agents accountable for alleged misconduct during immigration operations. As immigration enforcement continues nationwide, the outcome of Castro's case may establish important precedents for how such incidents are prosecuted and who has jurisdiction when federal operations go wrong.