Federal prosecutors in Minnesota were preparing to charge ICE agent Christian Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law for shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg during a January 2023 incident in Minneapolis. However, leaders at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., overruled these plans, despite objections from Matthew Evans, the federal prosecutor handling the case. Evans described his objections as the "strongest possible," arguing that the Justice Department should proceed with more serious charges. Instead, the department opted to charge Castro with False Statements, a lesser offense that could result in a lighter sentence if he is convicted. Castro, who was placed on leave by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is also facing multiple state felony charges in Minnesota, including assault with a dangerous weapon. After he left Minneapolis and returned to Texas, Minnesota officials requested Texas authorities to extradite Castro to face the charges. However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to cooperate. As a result, Castro was held in jail for 90 days while the two states disputed the extradition. He was recently released after the legal battle concluded. The incident involving Sosa-Celis occurred on January 14 when Castro and another ICE agent chased Alfredo Aljorna, an immigrant from Venezuela, following a traffic stop. Aljorna ran to his home, which he shared with Sosa-Celis, and both men managed to get inside. According to state charging documents, Castro fired through the closed door, knowing the house was occupied by several people. A witness reportedly said two children were in the home at the time. Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg. Following the shooting, ICE agents used tear gas inside the home and took Aljorna, Sosa-Celis, and their partners into custody. Initially, DHS claimed that Castro and the other agent were attacked by Aljorna and Sosa-Celis, who allegedly used a shovel or broomstick to strike them. This led DHS to describe Sosa-Celis and Aljorna as "violent criminal illegal aliens" and to charge them with assault. However, the next month, the charges against both men were dropped, and DHS retracted its initial account, acknowledging that video evidence suggested the agents' sworn testimony might have been false. This rare admission of potential wrongdoing by ICE marked a significant shift in the narrative surrounding the incident. Following his release from jail, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who is leading the state’s prosecution of Castro, expressed concern that he might flee to Mexico. She criticized the Justice Department’s decision to overrule Evans, drawing a comparison to its handling of another case involving ICE agents. A week before the shooting of Sosa-Celis, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in her car. Video evidence later showed that Good’s car was not moving toward the agents when they shot her. Although federal authorities initially agreed to a joint investigation, the Justice Department later refused to cooperate with state police, stating that any review of the shooting was unnecessary. A Department of Justice official emphasized that civil rights charges require consultation with the civil rights division in Washington and that all charging decisions are made collaboratively and based on a thorough review of facts and law. The official added that the department has not yet reached a conclusion in the Castro case and will not rush the investigative process.