A U.S. immigration officer has been arrested in Texas in connection with a January shooting in Minneapolis that left a Venezuelan man injured during a federal enforcement operation, authorities said.
The officer, identified as Christian Castro of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was taken into custody in Cameron County, Texas, near the Mexico border. He had been wanted on charges of assault and filing a false report related to the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
Prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, allege that Castro fired through the front door of a home and struck Sosa-Celis in the thigh while pursuing another individual during “Operation Metro Surge,” a federal immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area.
Authorities say the incident occurred on January 14 during a chaotic confrontation outside a duplex where Sosa-Celis and another man were present. Both individuals were described by prosecutors as legally in the United States.
Federal officials initially accused the occupants of attacking officers with objects like a broom handle and shovel, but later investigations and court actions led to those charges being dismissed and prompted scrutiny of officers’ conduct.
Castro is one of at least two federal agents charged in connection with alleged misconduct during the operation, which involved large-scale immigration enforcement actions across Minnesota.
Local prosecutors say video evidence from the scene shows a fast-moving struggle outside the home, though the exact moment of the shooting is not clearly visible.
The case has become part of a broader dispute between Minnesota officials and federal authorities over accountability and jurisdiction in incidents involving federal law enforcement officers.