A Venezuelan immigrant who was detained by Border Patrol during a traffic stop in Whitefish in April claims in a lawsuit filed Monday that he was racially profiled by a local officer during the incident. 

Beker Rengifo del Castillo, a 33-year-old Flathead County resident, filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Missoula against the city of Whitefish, Whitefish Police Officer Michael Hingiss and Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch. He is seeking punitive damages and legal fees for the officer's alleged racial profiling and role in detainment beyond the bounds of a normal traffic stop.  

According to the complaint filed by Upper Seven Law, a nonprofit law firm representing Rengifo del Castillo, he entered the U.S. legally under the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) Parole Program in July 2024. His work authorization was approved in July 2024 and he was issued a Social Security number in August 2024.  

On April 24, he was on his way home from working on a construction site near City Beach when Hingiss pulled him over, the complaint states. 

The police department's case report, obtained by the Daily Inter Lake, states that Hingiss noticed a broken taillight at about 5 p.m. on April 24.  

The case report states that the car's registration was not linked to a specific driver’s license number. While not illegal, Hingiss suggested that the lack of an operator license number was unusual. The two cars traveled for about two blocks after Hingiss activated his patrol lights, reportedly passing “a safe area to stop on the shoulder” of the road to come to a final stop near the corner of 5th Street and Spokane Avenue. Hingiss also stated that Rengifo del Castillo appeared nervous throughout the traffic stop. 

During the traffic stop, Rengifo del Castillo presented a valid driver’s license, vehicle registration and insurance documents, according to both the complaint and the case report. 

Rengifo del Castillo has no criminal history. 

The complaint states that video and audio footage obtained from the Whitefish Police Department showed Hingiss contacted Border Patrol and said, “This is Hingiss with the Whitefish Police Department. Just out with a male that only speaks Spanish, wondering if you want to check him.” 

According to the complaint, about 10 minutes after Hingiss initiated the stop, a Border Patrol agent arrived.  

“The CBP agent approached Hingiss, and they discussed Beker being Venezuelan. The CBP agent acknowledged that Beker might have legal status. Hingiss told the CBP agent he was going to give Beker a warning and offered for the CBP agent to continue the immigration investigation,” it states.  

Thereafter Rengifo del Castillo was transferred to the Whitefish Border Patrol office and detained overnight, whereupon a crowd of up to 50 citizens gathered outside to protest on Rengifo del Castillo’s behalf. He was transferred to an ICE detention center in Tacoma, Washington around 5 a.m. the following day. 

He was released a week later on April 30 without any charges.  

The Spokane Sector of CBP, which oversees the Whitefish office, did not respond to requests for comments at the time of his detainment, but did release a statement after his release justifying the actions of the Border Patrol officers. 

“The parole program is a discretionary measure intended to address specific humanitarian needs, not a guarantee of permanent residency,” the Spokane Border Patrol office stated. 

The complaint claims Rengifo del Castillo’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments rights were violated. The Fourth Amendment prohibits detentions without reasonable suspicion of a crime. The Fourteenth Amendment protects against discrimination based on race, ethnicity and national origin. 

“You can’t detain someone just for being non-white and speaking Spanish, especially when they hand you a valid REAL ID,” said Andres Haladay, senior staff attorney at Upper Seven Law. “This apparent racial profiling violates both the Montana Constitution and the United States Constitution, and damages trust between community members and local law enforcement.” 

According to the complaint, at the time of the traffic stop, Rengifo del Castillo worked multiple jobs to support himself and to send money back to his family in Venezuela, including his 4-year-old child. 

Whitefish City Attorney Angela Jacobs said the city does not comment on pending litigation. 

After Rengifo del Castillo’s detainment, small protests continued outside of the Whitefish CBP office for weeks. Several citizens from across Flathead Valley made comments at Whitefish City Council meetings in the weeks following the traffic stop, expressing fear and requesting transparency.  

At a May City Council meeting, Kelch denied bias impacted the decisions the officer made during the April 24 traffic stop. He said the officer was polite to Rengifo del Castillo and said the department had no need to further investigate whether the issue broke agency policies that prohibit profiling. 

The Police Department did, however, thoroughly consider their practices regarding Border Patrol agents, enforcing a requirement that officers call a supervisor before contacting immigration officials, Kelch said in May.