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 Castaneda Mondragon 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 couldn't possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year-old's brain, according to 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 AP. "There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall." More:
- Inconsistent injuries: The AP interviewed a doctor and five nurses who work at HCMC, as well as 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 also evolved during the time that federal officers were at his bedside. At least one ICE officer told caregivers that Castaneda Mondragon "got his [expletive] rocked" after his Jan. 8 arrest near a St. Paul shopping center, the court filings and a hospital staff member said. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, didn't respond to repeated requests for comment on his injuries.
- The injured: Gregorio Castaneda Mondragon 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, the detained Castaneda Mondragon entered the US 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.
- Detention: His lawyers told a court that Castaneda Mondragon was racially profiled during the crackdown, and that officers determined only after his arrest that he'd 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.
- Injuries: Castaneda Mondragon was initially taken to an ICE processing center at the edge of Minneapolis. 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.
- Aftermath: On Saturday, more than two weeks after Castaneda Mondragon was arrested, a US District Court judge ordered him released from ICE custody. To the surprise of some who treated him, Castaneda Mondragon was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. The hospital spokeswoman said she had no information about his current condition or location.
- Where is he now? On Wednesday, lawyers for the DOJ filed documents affirming to the judge who ordered Castaneda Mondragon's release that he's no longer in federal custody. His younger brother said Castaneda Mondragon has no family in Minnesota and that co-workers have taken him in. He 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.
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