Fifteen months have passed since Beker Renigfo del Castillo spent a week in federal detention following what seemed like a routine traffic stop in downtown Whitefish.  

In some ways, it feels like no time has passed at all. 

“I still have fear,” he said. “If I’m ever going to Whitefish, that’s when the fear is the greatest. I’ll be looking around to see what’s going to happen.” 

Sitting at the kitchen table in a friend’s cluttered basement apartment, Rengifo del Castillo gave his first public account of the events that led to his detainment in April 2025 and his decision to sue the city and Whitefish Police Department for racial profiling. 

A native of Venezuela, Rengifo del Castillo immigrated to Kalispell in July 2024 under a two-year humanitarian parole program. Within a month, he received work authorization and a Social Security number, which allowed him to find dual employment as a custodian and a housepainter. 

A portion of his paychecks went toward supporting family still in Venezuela, including his toddler daughter, but Rengifo del Castillo managed to save enough to buy a used Ford Fusion, which he drove to and from job sites across the Flathead Valley. 

He had his first encounter with American law enforcement soon after, when a Kalispell Police officer pulled him over. Rengifo del Castillo’s English was limited, so the officer used a translation app on his phone to give Rengifo del Castillo a verbal warning to make sure the car was insured. The exchange was casual and friendly, said Rengifo del Castillo, and he was back on the road a few minutes later. 

So, when Rengifo del Castillo saw the red and blue lights spin up behind him on the afternoon of April 24, 2025, he wasn’t worried.  

“I didn’t think it was anything serious or that they were going to do anything serious to me. I thought they were just going to review my documents,” Rengifo del Castillo said.   

He had everything he needed handy: a Montana driver’s license, his car registration, proof of a recently purchased car insurance plan.  

There was no reason for his immigration status to come up, especially given a recent court order. In March 2025, the Trump administration sought to terminate the humanitarian parole program that Rengifo del Castillo entered the United States under, essentially stranding him and thousands of other migrants in the country without a legal status.  

A federal judge in Massachusetts issued an order on April 14, 2025 halting the recension of parolees’ statuses while a lawsuit made its way through the courts. The nationwide stay was still in effect 10 days later, when Whitefish Police officer Michael Hingiss approached Rengifo del Castillo’s parked car during a traffic stop.  

Hingiss spoke only in English — there was no translation app this time — and Rengifo del Castillo said he struggled to understand the officer. He didn’t know why he had been pulled over, but he handed over his driver’s license and other documents and watched as Hingiss carried them back to his patrol car. 

Rengifo del Castillo waited. Minutes passed — about 12 in total, far longer than the last time he had been pulled over. 

“As I continued to sit there and time continued to go on, I became more anxious,” Rengifo del Castillo said. 

His apprehension grew when Hingiss reappeared with a uniformed Customs and Border Protection officer in tow. He handed Rengifo del Castillo a ticket, and the federal immigration officer explained, in Spanish, that it was a warning for driving with a broken taillight. 

“He was explaining that this was a ticket you don’t have to pay,” Rengifo del Castillo said. “He said it’s not a big deal, it doesn’t matter, and that was it.” 

Hingiss drove away. Another immigration officer emerged from the Customs and Border Protection vehicle and Rengifo del Castillo was taken into custody. 

He declined to comment on his interactions with immigration officials or his treatment while in their custody, citing the possibility of a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, but a complaint filed by Rengifo del Castillo’s lawyer against the city of Whitefish described the week Rengifo del Castillo spent in a federal immigration center in Tacoma, Wash., as “a horrific and traumatic experience.”  

He was released without charge on April 30, 2025.    

AT FIRST, Rengifo del Castillo assumed Hingiss had requested the Whitefish Border Patrol office send someone over to help with translating the traffic citation. It soon became clear that Hingiss invited them to participate in the traffic stop with the intention of providing an avenue for officials to check Rengifo del Castillo’s immigration status.  

Body camera footage showed that Hingiss contacted a dispatch center for the Department of Homeland Security seconds after he reentered his vehicle with Rengifo del Castillo’s documents in hand.  

“Hey there, this is Officer Hingiss with Whitefish Police Department,” he told the dispatcher. “Just out with a male that only speaks Spanish, wondering if you want to check him.”   

In a police report on the traffic stop, Hingiss wrote that “immigration violations have been an ongoing issue in Flathead County ... The intent of the call was to check the individual stopped to see if any federal contacts were needed.” 

Rengifo del Castillo is far from the only person to enter federal immigration custody by way of local police officers in the past year. 

State and local law enforcement agencies were involved in about 25% of the 135 known immigration detentions that occurred in Northwest Montana in 2025. At least 22 people were detained by Whitefish Border Patrol agents during traffic stops, and eight people, including a 17-year-old girl, were detained after law enforcement agents responded to vehicle crashes.     

Seeing those trends unfold in his own community spurred Rengifo del Castillo to file a lawsuit against the city of Whitefish following his release from federal custody.  

The complaint, which was filed in federal district court in Missoula in August 2025, leveled claims of unconstitutional seizure, false arrest and violation of equal rights protections against Hingiss, both as an individual and in his capacity as a city employee. The lawsuit also included one count of negligence against the city of Whitefish and one count each of failure to train against the city and Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch.   

“I felt what the Whitefish Police Department was doing was outside of the law. I had all of my documentation. I believe I was not doing anything wrong or bad, and just having a burnt-out taillight doesn’t warrant what happened,” Rengifo del Castillo said. “I really wanted to make sure in the future, things like this didn’t happen to other people.” 

Board Vice Chair for Valley Neighbors Johnny Ratka Skinner believes the lawsuit did exactly that. Since news of the lawsuit hit the presses, he said he has received fewer reports of municipal police agencies contacting immigration officials during traffic stops and other routine encounters. 

“The lawsuit really raises awareness among law enforcement agencies and officers that immigrants here in the valley still enjoy the same rights as everybody else,” he said. “I think the lawsuit really did demonstrate that law enforcement will be held accountable.” 

Even so, Valley Neighbors and other immigration support groups across the state continue to receive reports of detainments, said Ratka Skinner. Advocates estimated that about 150 people were detained in Gallatin County during a rash of immigration raids leading up to Independence Day. 

The involvement of local law enforcement agencies in such enforcement activities varies widely. Four counties and the Montana Department of Justice now hold agreements with the federal government that allow officers to "identify and report suspected aliens not charged with crimes.” Two other counties, including Flathead County, hold agreements that allow local officers to execute warrants for civil immigration offenses. 

Other jurisdictions, meanwhile, have sought to limit the role that local police agencies can play in immigration enforcement, often to the consternation of the Montana Department of Justice. 

In January, Helena officials passed a resolution that would bar the city’s police department from entering into a collaborative agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The city scrapped the measure a few months later after Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen claimed it violated a statewide ban on sanctuary cities. 

Knudsen more recently exerted supervisory control of the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office after the county refused to supply confidential criminal justice information to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, arguing that the federal agency was acting in a civil rather than a law enforcement capacity when it sought the information. The state Supreme Court is reviewing the matter. 

In Whitefish too, questions remain. Following advice from his lawyers, Rengifo del Castillo signed a $90,000 settlement with the city of Whitefish one year and four days after he was first pulled over. Under the agreement, the lawsuit was dismissed, leaving Rengifo del Castillo’s allegations of unlawful treatment in a state of perpetual legal limbo. 

“I wasn’t ever looking for an apology, but it would have been nice if they acknowledged wrongdoing,” Rengifo del Castillo said. “I understand with the settlement, it comes with different tradeoffs. I do understand that they know that they did something wrong.” 

While the city never legally admitted guilt, Rengifo del Castillo said the settlement provided a much-needed resolution to a taxing chapter in his life. He wanted to spend more time looking forward, and to focus on building his future in the Flathead Valley. 

“As time goes on, I’m more confident and more used to the community, and I have found that there are a lot of great people in Kalispell,” he said. “I’m very grateful to the people and the state of Montana. I’m very grateful to the people who have helped me a lot. I feel at home. Even though we don’t speak the same language, I feel very well here.” 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 406-758-4433 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.