By Madison McVan | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
An attorney from the office of Attorney General Keith Ellison will appear in Brownsville, Texas, this afternoon to argue for the extradition of ICE agent Christian Castro to Minnesota.
Castro is charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis in January. Castro has been in a Texas county jail since May 29, when he was arrested by the Texas Rangers, a state law enforcement agency.
A federal law prohibits law enforcement agencies from detaining fugitives awaiting extradition for longer than 90 days. That means Castro could be released from custody as soon as Thursday. Minnesota authorities allege that he is in a relationship with a woman in Mexico, who is living in a home Castro owns — making him a potential flight risk.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has so far refused to sign the paperwork to facilitate the extradition. Last week, he said he would not sign the papers until the Walz administration acknowledges “their fault in the fraud that took place, and they fully repay the United States of America for the fraud they committed.”
In a legal filing submitted to the court yesterday, Abbott’s office said the governor last month ordered his Secretary of State to investigate “whether Mr. Castro is a fugitive based on public reports and a preliminary investigation indicating he may have been ordered to return to Texas by ICE.” Castro may not be a “fugitive,” the state of Texas argued, because he didn’t flee from Minnesota — he was reassigned to Texas by ICE.
This investigation was news to Minnesota law enforcement officials, who replied in a brief this morning arguing that the Supreme Court has made it clear that the Constitution affords “no discretion to the executive officers of the asylum State.”
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a “statement of interest” in the case, confirming some of the facts underpinning Abbott’s argument. ICE ordered Castro to return to Texas after the shooting over concerns for his safety, given that protesters were “following ICE officers and using aggressive and sometimes violent tactics, including doxxing, to interfere with officers carrying out their duties,” according to an affidavit from an ICE field office director.
Minnesota reiterated its request that the judge order Texas officials to facilitate the extradition — or, at least, order that Castro remain in jail until the extradition matter is settled.
I’ll have an update for you after today’s hearing. To the rest of the news:
Federal immigration officers on the scene where ICE agent Christian Castro allegedly shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in north Minneapolis. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
By J. Patrick Coolican
Editor-in-chief J. Patrick Coolican writes that Minnesotans have been in the fight of our lives against the Trump administration, which has to rank among the most lawless in American history. “It’s gotten so bad that — as ProPublica reported recently — federal judges across the country have called Trump’s Justice Department at various times ‘unlawful,’ ‘unethical,’ ‘unseemly’ or otherwise dishonest,” Coolican writes.
Republican nominee for attorney general Ron Schutz is very much a Trump ally — and doesn’t seem prepared to fight the feds’ lawlessness.
By Kelsie Moseley-Morris
A federal court ruling out of Idaho has potential implications for exceptions in abortion bans nationwide and could eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled earlier this month that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides a narrow right for a pregnant patient to obtain an abortion if the pregnancy could be a risk to their health, including their mental health. It’s the first ruling since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in 2022 to find that the U.S. Constitution includes a right to abortion access in certain situations.
By Ariana Figueroa
The Department of Homeland Security is planning to drastically increase the fee for hiring high-skilled foreign workers within the United States to $100,000, according to a preview of a proposed rule published Monday.
The administration noted in the Federal Register that it plans to use the fee to “serve as a dedicated revenue mechanism to help recover a portion of the federal government’s costs of administering the lawful immigration system, including activities carried out by DHS” and the departments of Justice, State and Labor.
Currently, it costs anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 for an employer to hire a highly skilled foreign worker through the H-1B visa program.
IN OTHER NEWS
OH BY THE WAY
Tough loss for the Lynx last night. Here’s a song for your Tuesday.
That’s all from me. Have a great day!
Thanks for reading Daily Reformer. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.