A man taken into federal custody after being pulled over by Whitefish police allegedly for a faulty taillight is suing the city and its police department.
Beker Rengifo Del Castillo, in a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Missoula, stated that he was stopped by Whitefish police while leaving work on April 24 and was detained despite passing a background check.
The local police then called the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, who detained Castillo at a regional facility in Tacoma, Washington, until April 30. In the filing, Castillo said police called CBP because he spoke Spanish during the interaction.
“Castillo’s story shows why untrained municipal police should not masquerade as federal immigration cops,” attorneys for Castillo said in the lawsuit. Castillo is represented by Upper Seven Law.
Whitefish City Attorney Angela Jacobs did not respond to a voicemail left by Montana Free Press on Monday. Although several Montana law enforcement agencies have entered into proxy agreements with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Whitefish Police hadn’t at the time Castillo was detained. Whitefish police didn’t respond to a call Monday requesting more information.
The Flathead Beacon reported days after Castillo’s detention that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Castillo’s arrest was justified. The Beacon reported that at a Whitefish City Council meeting following the arrest, police denied rumors that they had called ICE because Castillo only spoke Spanish.
Castillo states in the lawsuit that he is legally in the United States, having entered the United States on July 15, 2024, under the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela Parole Program. Castillo was approved to work in the United States on July 23, 2024. He was issued a Social Security number one year ago. During the April 24, 2025, traffic stop, he provided Whitefish police proof of lawful presence in the form of a valid, federally compliant REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, he argues in the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Castillo said in the lawsuit that call records show Whitefish Police Officer Michael Hingiss, after pulling Castillo over, initiated the immigration investigation by contacting the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
“This is Hingiss with the Whitefish Police Department. Just out with a male that only speaks Spanish, wondering if you want to check him.” There had been no other reason given for starting an immigration investigation, Castillo’s attorneys argue in court filings.
”Being non-white, speaking Spanish, and providing proof of lawful presence does not justify transforming a traffic stop into an immigration investigation,” Castillo’s attorneys wrote.
Upon arrival at the traffic stop, a Customs and Border Patrol agent informed Hingiss that Castillo might have legal status, Castillo’s attorney said in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the grounds for Castillo’s arrest were false, a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable search and seizure. They also alleged racial profiling, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The lawsuit seeks punitive damages and legal fees from Whitefish and members of its police department.
This story was updated Aug. 12, 2025, to correct the amount of time Beker Rengifo Del Castillo was in federal custody.
latest stories
The American-made hemp shirt experiment
Producing USA-made clothing from hemp, which was federally illegal to grow until 2018, required companies to stitch together a production process that didn’t really exist in this country.
Growth, tourism and gravel collide in Yellowstone’s northern gateway
As Paradise Valley population swells with residents and visitors, development follows and on its heels the quest for a valuable resource: gravel. A new gravel pit proposal is spurring resident resistance.
Federal bill boosting voter registration requirements passes U.S. House
A Republican push to ratchet up voter ID requirements nationwide has passed the House with the support of Montana’s representatives and will now head to the Senate. The SAVE America Act is intended to make voter registration more secure — and too difficult for many Americans to comply with, opponents say.