WHITEFISH — The city of Whitefish has reached a settlement in a case involving a Venezuelan immigrant who was pulled over by police and taken into Border Patrol custody in 2025.
The city of Whitefish has agreed to pay $90,000 to Beker Rengifo Del Castillo.
Del Castillo spent almost a week in federal detention in April 2025 after Whitefish Police Officer Michael Hingiss called U.S. Customs and Border Protection during a traffic stop.
Del Castillo had been living in Flathead County legally through a humanitarian parole program.
He was later released from an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington, but sued the city of Whitefish for civil rights violations.
The Montana-based nonprofit law firm Upper Seven Law represented Del Castillo.
The firm said Beker's federal lawsuit alleged violations of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights for unlawful profiling and unlawful seizure.
"This should send a clear message to law enforcement agencies across Montana that untrained local police officers should not play border cop," Andres Haladay, Senior Staff Attorney at Upper Seven Law, stated in a press release. "When police conduct immigration investigations based on the color of someone's skin or the language they speak, it violates the constitution, breaches community trust, and wastes taxpayer dollars."
The city of Whitefish also addressed the case in a press release Tuesday.
"Under the terms of the settlement agreement, there is no admission of wrongdoing by the City," Dana Meeker, Whitefish's city manager, wrote. "The City stands firmly behind its local law enforcement officers who are tasked with performing an increasingly difficult job in rapidly changing circumstances, both on a state and federal level."
The $90,000 settlement will be paid by the city of Whitefish's insurance provider, Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority.
