WHITEFISH, MTA — A man who was detained in a federal detention facility after being stopped by Whitefish police in April for a supposedly defective taillight has sued the city of Whitefish, Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch, and Officer Michael Hingiss, who performed the traffic stop, claiming racial profiling and a violation of his constitutional rights.
According to the lawsuit, Hingiss stopped 33-year-old Venezuelan Beker Rengifo Del Castillo on April 24 as he was leaving a job near Whitefish Lake, purportedly because his brake light was faulty. According to court documents, after Hingiss called Customs and Border Protection, Del Castillo was placed under the guard of a Customs and Border Protection officer and then transported to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Tacoma, Washington. This was a horrifying and traumatic event.
In an email to the Daily Montanan, Whitefish City Attorney Angela Jacobs stated that the city is unable to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
The case was brought before the Missoula federal district court. Upper Seven Law represents Del Castillo.
Despite the fact that Del Castillo produced a valid REAL ID compliant driver’s license as evidence of his lawful presence in the United States, the lawsuit claims that Hingiss called Customs and Border Protection because Beker only speaks Spanish and the Border Patrol might want to check him.
The complaint claims that Del Castillo used the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela Parole Program to enter the United States in July 2024. On July 23, 2024, Del Castillo received a Social Security number after his application for work authorization was granted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
This spring, Del Castillo and a colleague were driving away from a job site in different automobiles when Hingiss trailed behind them. The complaint claims that Hingiss left Del Castillo with a federal officer to carry out the immigration inquiry after phoning Customs and Border Protection because of a language problem. The Border Patrol agent mentioned that Del Castillo might have legal status, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Del Castillo’s case demonstrates why inexperienced local police officers shouldn’t pose as federal immigration officers.
Del Castillo was detained until April 30 after being transferred to an ICE detention facility; he was subsequently released without a place to stay or a means of transportation home.
The lawsuit claims that as a result of this occurrence, Del Castillo is reluctant to leave his home and makes an effort to stay away from any interaction with police enforcement out of concern that he would once more be arrested and imprisoned without cause and on the basis of discrimination. In order to prevent the possibility of being racially profiled and imprisoned without cause while commuting to and from work, he quit his jobs.
The complaint claims that while detaining Del Castillo and contacting the Border Patrol, Hingiss violated the Whitefish Police Department’s immigration policy. According to the policies, officers are not allowed to hold someone for an extended period of time for a civil violation of federal immigration laws or a related civil warrant. Additionally, no one who is otherwise prepared for release should be held longer simply because their status is still up for debate.
The lawsuit claims that the procedures also require an officer to obtain permission before making an arrest for an alleged immigration infraction and before sending a person to federal immigration authorities, as well as to notify a supervisor while detaining someone for an immigration violation.
According to the Flathead Beacon, Police Chief Kelch informed council members during a May Whitefish City Council meeting that the city had laws that forbid biased-based policing and inappropriate profiling.Kelch added that we didn’t request interpreting help from the Border Patrol.
The city of Whitefish and the police officers are sued for actual, general, and punitive damages as well as legal fees.
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