The Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, which is one of the largest immigrant detention facilities in the western U.S. (Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)
A man who was held in a federal detention facility after Whitefish police pulled him over for an allegedly faulty taillight in April has filed a lawsuit alleging racial profiling and a violation of his constitutional rights against the city of Whitefish, Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch, and Officer Michael Hingiss, who conducted the traffic stop.
Beker Rengifo Del Castillo, 33, is a Venezuelan citizen who was leaving a job near Whitefish Lake on April 24 when Hingiss stopped him, according to the lawsuit, allegedly for a broken brake light. Hingiss called Customs and Border Protection, and Del Castillo was left in the custody of a Customs and Border Protection officer and subsequently taken to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Tacoma, Washington, “a horrific and traumatic experience,” according to court documents…