ICE Agent Arrested in Texas for Shooting Venezuelan Man in Minneapolis

Federal Agent Apprehended After Months-Long Search

ICE agent Christian Castro was arrested Friday morning in Harlingen, Texas, "without incident" for the January shooting of Venezuelan man Julio Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis . The county attorney's office has charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime for allegedly shooting a Venezuelan migrant in Minneapolis and later lying about the details of the incident . The charges triggered a nationwide warrant for Castro's arrest, and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators tracked him down in Texas earlier this week before he was taken into custody by Department of Homeland Security agents and Texas Rangers .

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the arrest represents "a critical step forward in our prosecution of Mr. Castro" , while Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison emphasized that "nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government" and that "Christian Castro's alleged shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis appears unwarranted, as evidenced by the lies Castro told his ICE supervisors to justify his unlawful actions" .

Video Evidence Contradicts Federal Claims

Minnesota prosecutors allege that the ICE officer was attempting to arrest Alfredo Aljorna following a car chase on Jan. 14 during the federal immigration enforcement crackdown in the state, and when the Venezuelan migrant ran into his home, prosecutors said Castro fired into his front door, hitting Aljorna's roommate, Julio Sosa-Celis, in the leg . Both men were in Minnesota "lawfully" through the federal government's Temporary Protected Status program, which the Trump administration is seeking to eliminate in at least some cases .

Video evidence and witness accounts contradicted the original federal claims that Julio Sosa-Celis and his cousin had attacked the agent with a shovel, leading federal prosecutors to initially charge Aljorna and Sosa-Celis after DHS said they had attacked an agent, prompting him to fire a defensive shot, but the Justice Department dropped the charges in February, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said two of its agents, who made false statements about the incident under oath, were placed on administrative leave . Video of the incident released in February and April appeared to contradict the agency's account, showing one man standing with a shovel near a home before he drops it while another man runs toward the residence empty-handed .

Part of Controversial Operation Metro Surge

The incident occurred during the Department of Homeland Security's three-month-long immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, which the agency dubbed as "Operation Metro Surge," and Castro is accused of firing a gunshot into a home, knowing it was occupied by multiple people and injuring Sosa-Celis . Operation Metro Surge began on December 4, 2025, and was expanded on January 6, 2026, to what DHS called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, sending 2,000 agents to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area and involving the detention of US citizens and the arrest of 3,000 people .

Federal agents killed two civilian protestors during the operation: Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were both US citizens, and one person detained by ICE during the operation died while in custody . The complaint states paramedics were not allowed access to Sosa-Celis for nearly an hour after he was shot in the leg , while four adults and two children were inside the home at the time of the shooting, and investigators said ICE agents surrounded the home after the shooting, deployed tear gas and later entered the residence, taking four adults into custody .

Federal-State Tensions Escalate

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, adding that "lying under oath is a serious federal offense" and that "the U.S. Attorney's Office is actively investigating these statements," with potential disciplinary action including termination and criminal prosecution . The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says that the state charges are "likely to result in an attempt to 'remove' this case to federal court," but if this "removal" is granted by the judge, the office will still prosecute the case, and if it ends in conviction, it will not be eligible for a presidential pardon .

The arrest highlights the unprecedented constitutional clash between federal immigration enforcement and state authority that has emerged from Operation Metro Surge. Castro was booked into the Cameron County Jail and is now awaiting extradition to Minnesota, with BCA Superintendent Drew Evans noting that "this arrest represents the next step in a long-established legal process, and we will now begin the work necessary to bring Mr. Castro back to Minnesota to face these charges" . This case will test whether state prosecutors can hold federal agents accountable for actions taken