Federal prosecutors in the United States have charged an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with lying under oath to investigators about a shooting that took place during an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota in January.
The agent, Christian Castro, is accused of making false statements to federal investigators about the events that led him to fire through the closed door of a Minnesota home, striking 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg.
Castro, a former Department of Homeland Security agent, also faces multiple state felony charges in Minnesota related to the nonfatal shooting, including assault with a dangerous weapon.
According to charging documents, Castro and a fellow agent pursued Alfredo Aljorna, a Venezuelan national, following a traffic stop. Aljorna fled to the home he shared with Sosa-Celis. After a brief struggle, both men ran inside. Castro then fired through the closed door, "knowing [the home] was occupied by several people," the documents stated. One witness said two children were present in the house at the time.
Video evidence later contradicted Castro's initial account. Castro had told investigators that Sosa-Celis attacked him, but surveillance footage showed that did not occur. Todd Lyons, then acting head of ICE, acknowledged at the time that the footage "has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements."
The Trump administration distanced itself from the Castro case after the footage became public.
Authorities in Minnesota sought to extradite Castro from Texas to face trial. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declined to cooperate with the request. Castro was held in Texas for 90 days before being released last week, the maximum period permitted under Texas law. His whereabouts were unclear as of Thursday.
Federal authorities have since suspended Castro and dropped all charges against Sosa-Celis and his co-defendant, who had both initially been accused of forcibly assaulting an ICE officer. The other agent involved in the incident was also suspended but has not been charged.
The federal indictment follows reports that Justice Department officials had blocked prosecutors from pursuing more serious civil rights charges against Castro, including charges related to "deprivation of rights under color of law." However, a source close to the investigation indicated the active inquiry could still result in civil rights charges.
The charges represent a rare move by the Justice Department under the Trump administration, which has repeatedly argued that immigration agents maintain broad protections while conducting enforcement operations. That position has been rejected by many legal experts.
No charges have been filed in connection with the fatal shootings by immigration agents of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, also in Minneapolis, in January.
A review conducted in February found approximately two dozen ICE employees and contractors had faced criminal charges since 2020. A report released in July by the American Civil Liberties Union documented instances of violent tactics or other civil rights violations in roughly one third of 1,200 immigration enforcement incidents reviewed in 2025 alone.
The Trump administration has also scaled back the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and dismantled several police oversight initiatives introduced under the previous administration since returning to office in January 2025.
In August, immigration agents detained 50,925 people, with the Department of Homeland Security describing it as a new record for the "highest number of illegal aliens arrested in a single month."
