A man who has been in the custody of federal immigration officers while hospitalized at Hennepin County Medical Center alleges in a lawsuit that federal agents are interfering in his medical care and that he was solely detained because of his appearance.
A writ of habeas corpus petition filed Friday on behalf of the patient, Alberto Castaneda Mondragon, asked that he be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. According to the lawsuit, Castaneda Mondragon obtained a “catastrophic” and “life-threatening” head injury while in ICE custody within hours of his arrest on Jan. 8.
The lawsuit says that Castaneda Mondragon, his lawyers and hospital staff don’t currently know how he was injured because “his memory and current ability to communicate are severely impacted by his condition.” But Castaneda Mondragon at one point reported to hospital staff that he was dragged and mistreated by federal agents, the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, agents told hospital staff that Castaneda Mondragon was “laying down in handcuffs when he attempted to flee, and then, for unknown reasons, purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”
When one ICE agent was asked by medical providers for more information on Castaneda Mondragon’s injuries, the agent said that “he got his shit rocked” and did not elaborate further, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says that Castaneda Mondragon is “only minimally responsive and communicative, and remains disoriented.” He has been medically sedated since he arrived at HCMC. Attorneys from Hennepin County Adult Representation Services are representing Castaneda Mondragon and filed the lawsuit.
Jeanette Boerner, director of Hennepin County Adult Representation Services, said in a statement that the office can’t discuss pending litigation.
Castaneda Mondragon is a Latino resident of Minnesota who most recently entered the U.S. in 2022 with valid documents, the lawsuit says. He was arrested outside a strip mall in St. Paul on Jan. 8, but his lawyers write in the lawsuit that ICE agents have not produced a warrant or any documentation to hospital staff or his lawyers to show “any lawful basis or authority for such custody.”
Castaneda Mondragon’s only criminal history in Minnesota appears to be one offense for driving without a valid license, the lawsuit says.
“There is no reason to believe that Mr. Castaneda Mondragon was arrested for any other reason than that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time — that is, that he was a brown-skinned Latino Spanish-speaker at a location that immigration agents arbitrarily decided to target,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, Castaneda Mondragon was taken by ICE officers to Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina for head trauma within four hours of his arrest. He was then transferred to Hennepin County Medical Center. The lawsuit says he has life-threatening brain injuries, including multiple cranial fractures hemorrhaging in his brain and swelling and bruising around his eye.
The lawsuit alleges that ICE agents have refused to leave HCMC while Castaneda Mondragon receives care, and that at one point shackled his legs together, arguing that he was trying to escape.
“Agents continued to reject all information from the medical team, including their assurances that the medical team would not permit him to leave in his current state and offer to exchange handcuffs for hospital-issued restraints,” the lawsuit says.
Feds say patient overstayed his visa
In a response filed in court Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote that Castaneda Mondragon is a citizen of Mexico, and entered the U.S. in 2022 on a H-2B visa. ICE agents “encountered” Castaneda Mondragon during Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale federal operation that has been taking place in Minnesota, and determined that he overstayed his visa, the response says.
Castaneda Mondragon was taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building and was served with a warrant for arrest, the federal government’s response says. During the intake process, “it was determined that Castaneda had a head injury that required emergency medical treatment,” and he was taken to HCMC.
The response does not specify how Castaneda Mondragon was injured.
“Upon his release from medical care, he will be taken into ICE custody for processing and initiation of removal proceedings,” the response says.
Health care workers speak out
Health care workers at Hennepin Healthcare have recently spoken out about the presence of ICE officers in hospitals, arguing that the presence is “disruptive” and prevents patients from receiving proper care.
At a news conference at the State Capitol on Tuesday, health care workers and legislators from across the state gathered to voice concerns about how the federal immigration operation has impacted health care facilities. They said ICE agents have been present in private areas of hospitals and are refusing to leave or show a warrant.
“We have reports of ICE agents bringing in their patients with injuries that are completely inconsistent with the stories that they are telling, and they are not allowing the patient to tell their side of the story of what happened,” said state Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina.
Health care workers also said Tuesday that patients have been delaying care over fears that they might encounter ICE agents in health care settings. Hospital staff who are people of color are also not coming to work, worried that they themselves might be detained.
“We see firsthand that when people delay or avoid care. The harm compounds, chronic conditions worsen, injuries go untreated, preventable complications grow more serious. Our patients and communities are scared,” said Dr. Roli Dwivedi, immediate past president of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. “The bottom line is, is this making America healthy again?”
