A federal judge ruled Friday that a patient at Hennepin County Medical Center is being unlawfully detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and ordered that he be released from custody immediately.
Alberto Castaneda Mondragon has been hospitalized at HCMC since Jan. 8 with a “catastrophic” head injury after he was arrested by ICE outside a strip mall in St. Paul. According to a writ of habeas corpus petition filed in federal court last week, ICE agents have refused to leave the hospital while Castaneda Mondragon receives care.
Attorneys representing Castaneda Mondragon wrote in the petition that they were unable to obtain information from ICE on why he was being detained. In response to the petition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a court filing Tuesday that Castaneda Mondragon allegedly overstayed his visa, and that he was served an arrest warrant after he was detained and taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank wrote that because the warrant wasn’t issued until after Castaneda Mondragon was arrested, his detention was unlawful. More than two weeks since his arrest, ICE has not completed Castaneda Mondragon’s intake process or initiated removal proceedings, which Frank wrote was not a “reasonable” amount of time.
Frank ordered that Castaneda Mondragon be released from ICE custody immediately.
“ICE agents must leave HCMC and remove any restraints that were imposed against hospital recommendation,” Frank wrote in an order Friday.
Castaneda Mondragon has life-threatening brain injuries, including multiple cranial fractures, hemorrhaging in his brain and swelling and bruising around his eye, according to the habeas petition.
The petition says that Castaneda Mondragon is “only minimally responsive and communicative, and remains disoriented.” Attorneys from Hennepin County Adult Representation Services are representing Castaneda Mondragon and filed the petition.
In an emailed statement, Jeanette Boerner, director of Hennepin County Adult Representation Services, said her office is “encouraged” by the judge’s order, “which affirms that the rule of law applies to all people, in every corner of our country, including federal officers.”
“Court oversight of government actions that interfere with individual rights is crucial at a time like this. We hope our client can now get medical care without federal government interference. Adult Representation Services is dedicated to safeguarding the rights of our clients and we are compelled to act when these rights are disregarded,” the statement reads.
The Department of Homeland Security also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Â
The petition says that it’s unknown how Castaneda Mondragon obtained his injuries, but Castaneda Mondragon at one point reported to hospital staff that he was dragged and mistreated by federal agents.
According to the petition, 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 petition says.
Castaneda Mondragon’s lawyers assert in the petition that it appears that he was racially profiled, and detained solely based on his appearance.
