A federal immigration officer charged over the shooting of a Venezuela-born man during a January enforcement operation in Minneapolis has been arrested in Texas, intensifying scrutiny of tactics used during a Trump administration immigration crackdown.Christian Castro, 52, an officer with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was taken into custody in Harlingen, Texas, on Friday after Minnesota investigators located him. Prosecutors in Hennepin County have charged him with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime over the January 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis.
Castro is accused of firing through the front door of a home after several people ran inside during an enforcement action linked to Operation Metro Surge. The bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg before lodging in the wall of a child’s room, according to charging details released by county authorities. Sosa-Celis survived the shooting.
The arrest was carried out by Texas Rangers, with Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators present at the scene. County officials initially said staff from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General were also present, though federal officials later disputed aspects of that account, underscoring tensions between local prosecutors and federal agencies over the case.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has described the arrest as a significant step in holding federal officers accountable when state laws are alleged to have been violated. Her office has said federal employment does not place an officer beyond the reach of state criminal law when alleged conduct occurs within Minnesota.
The case centres on a disputed account of what happened during an ICE operation that began with agents pursuing another Venezuela-born man, Alfredo Aljorna. Federal officers initially alleged that Sosa-Celis and Aljorna attacked Castro with a shovel and a broom handle after fleeing into the house. Those claims led to assault charges against the two men.
Those charges were later dropped after surveillance footage and other evidence raised questions about the federal version of events. Prosecutors say the evidence did not support the claim that Castro faced the kind of attack described in official filings. The case then shifted from allegations against the two men to scrutiny of the federal officers involved.
Castro has been placed on administrative leave. He has not been convicted, and the charges remain allegations unless proven in court. ICE has criticised the prosecution as politically motivated and has argued that questions involving federal officers should be handled through federal processes. State prosecutors have rejected that position, saying Minnesota has authority to pursue charges arising from alleged crimes within its jurisdiction.
The shooting has become one of the most closely watched incidents tied to Operation Metro Surge, a large federal immigration enforcement push in the Minneapolis area. The operation, launched under President Donald Trump’s expanded deportation drive, brought a heavy federal presence into neighbourhoods and triggered protests, legal challenges and disputes between city, state and federal authorities.
Castro is the second federal immigration officer charged by Hennepin County in connection with conduct during the operation. Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., another ICE officer, faces assault charges over allegations that he pointed a firearm at a vehicle on a Minneapolis highway in February. Morgan has also not been convicted.
The prosecution comes as Minnesota officials continue to examine other uses of force linked to the crackdown, including separate fatal shootings involving federal agents. Those cases have sharpened political divisions over immigration enforcement, public safety and the limits of federal authority in cities where local officials have criticised aggressive deportation tactics.
Minneapolis leaders have argued that the operation strained local law enforcement resources and heightened fear among immigrant communities. Federal officials have defended the crackdown as necessary to enforce immigration law and target people accused of criminal conduct. Critics say the operation swept broadly through communities, created avoidable confrontations and relied on narratives later challenged by video evidence and court proceedings.
Sosa-Celis was described by authorities as legally present in the United States at the time of the shooting. The collapse of the earlier assault case against him and Aljorna has become a central issue in the prosecution’s argument that official accounts of the incident were misleading.
The criminal case against Castro is likely to test how far local prosecutors can go in pursuing state charges against federal immigration officers acting during enforcement operations. It also places fresh pressure on federal agencies to explain how use-of-force reports were reviewed, how initial allegations against civilians were filed, and whether internal oversight mechanisms were sufficient.
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