SWFL.io - Local NewsMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Mexican immigrant was taken to a Minneapolis hospital earlier this month after bones in his face and skull were broken while he was in federal custody.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall,” according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release.
But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man's 31-year-old's brain, said three nurses familiar with the case.
“It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about,” said one of the nurses, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss patient care. “There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall.”
Here's what to know about the case, which offers an example of recent run-ins between immigration officers and health care workers that have contributed to mounting friction at Minneapolis hospitals.
The AP interviewed a doctor and five nurses who work at HCMC, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about Castañeda Mondragón’s case. AP also consulted with an outside physician, and they all affirmed that his injuries were inconsistent with an accidental fall or running into a wall.
ICE’s account of how he was hurt evolved during the time that federal officers were at his bedside. At least one ICE officer told caregivers that Castañeda Mondragón “got his (expletive) rocked” after his Jan. 8 arrest near a St. Paul shopping center, the court filings and a hospital staff member said. His arrest happened a day after the first of two fatal shootings in Minneapolis by immigration officers.
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on his injuries. A deportation officer skirted the issue in the court documents, saying that during the intake process at an ICE detention center, it was determined he “had a head injury that required emergency medical treatment.”
Gregorio Castañeda Mondragón said his older brother is from Veracruz, Mexico, and worked as a roofer. He has a 10-year-old daughter living in his hometown he helps support.
According to his lawyers, Castañeda Mondragón entered the U.S. in 2022 with valid immigration documents. Minnesota incorporation filings show he founded a company called Castaneda Construction the following year with an address listed in St. Paul. He appears to have no criminal record.
His lawyers told a court that Castañeda Mondragón was racially profiled during the crackdown, and that officers determined only after his arrest that he had overstayed his visa.
“He was a brown-skinned, Latino Spanish speaker at a location immigration agents arbitrarily decided to target,” his lawyers wrote in a petition seeking his release from ICE custody.
Castañeda Mondragón was initially taken to an ICE processing center at the edge of Minneapolis. Court records include an arrest warrant signed upon his arrival by an ICE officer, not an immigration judge.
About four hours after his arrest, he was taken to a hospital emergency room in suburban Edina with swelling and bruising around his right eye and bleeding. A CT scan revealed at least eight skull fractures and life-threatening hemorrhages in at least five areas of his brain, according to court documents. He was then transferred to HCMC.
Castañeda Mondragón was alert and speaking, telling staff he was “dragged and mistreated by federal agents,” though his condition quickly deteriorated, the documents said.
The following week, a Jan. 16 court filing described his condition as minimally responsive and communicative, disoriented and heavily sedated.
On Saturday, more than two weeks after Castañeda Mondragón was arrested, a U.S. District Court judge ordered him released from ICE custody.
To the surprise of some who treated him, Castañeda Mondragón was discharged from the hospital Tuesday. The hospital spokeswoman said she had no information about his current condition or location.
On Wednesday, lawyers for the Justice Department filed documents affirming to the judge who ordered Castañeda Mondragón’s release that he is no longer in federal custody.
His younger brother said Castañeda Mondragón has no family in Minnesota and that coworkers have taken him in. Has has significant memory loss and a long recovery ahead. He won’t be able to work for the foreseeable future, and his friends and family worry about paying for his care.
“He still doesn’t remember things that happened. I think (he remembers) 20% of the 100% he had,” said Gregorio Castañeda Mondragón, who lives in Mexico.
ICE officers have entered the hospital with seriously injured detainees and stayed at their bedside day after day, staffers said. The crackdown has been unsettling to hospital employees, who said ICE agents have been seen loitering on hospital grounds and asking patients and employees for proof of citizenship.
Hospital staff members said they were uncomfortable with the presence of armed agents they did not trust and who appeared to be untrained.
The nurses interviewed by AP said they felt intimidated by ICE’s presence in the critical care unit and had even been told to avoid a certain bathroom to minimize encounters with officers. They said staff members are using an encrypted messaging app to compare notes and share information out of fear that the government might be monitoring their communications.
The hospital reminded employees that ICE officers are not permitted to access patients or protected information without a warrant or court order.
“Patients under federal custody are first and foremost patients,” hospital officials wrote in a bulletin outlining new protocols. The hospital’s written policy also states that no shackles or other restraints should be used unless medically necessary.
“We have our policies, but ICE personnel as federal officers don't necessarily comply with those, and that introduces tension,” said a doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment for the hospital.
Hospital spokeswoman Alisa Harris said ICE agents “have not entered our facilities looking for individuals."
Mustian reported from New York, and Biesecker reported from Washington.