WHITEFISH — Beker Rengifo Del Castillo, 33, of Venezuela, has been living in Flathead County legally through a humanitarian parole program.
His attorney, Andrea Sweeney, says Del Castillo was arrested by federal agents in Whitefish on April 24 and transferred to ICE custody in Tacoma, Washington, despite having legal status through July of 2026.
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“The brief contact that I had with him while he was detained, you know, he just really was confused about what was going on, about why he was being held, and scared about what was going to happen next,” said Sweeney.
Sweeney — an attorney for Kolko & Casey Law Firm — was notified on April 24 that Del Castillo was being wrongfully detained by federal agents in Whitefish following a traffic stop.
“He entered the U.S. legally through a program called CHNV Parole, which was a program that the Biden administration implemented to allow people from some certain designated countries to enter the U.S. or to provide them with a way to lawfully enter the U.S. for humanitarian reasons,” said Sweeney.
The Trump Administration used executive orders to end the parole program, but a federal judge in Boston has issued a temporary hold preventing those orders from going into effect.
“He should have been allowed to stay under the terms of his prior parole through July of 2026 unless he was given some other notice that his parole was going to be terminated, which I’m not aware he was given any other additional notice or that it has been terminated in any capacity," Sweeny told MTN.
Sweeny said her client was held at the border patrol station in Whitefish before being transferred to an ICE detention center in Tacoma. She says Del Castillo was released from ICE custody Wednesday evening.
“He called a community activist and let them know that he had just been released, and we still don’t have any information about why he was held, and we don’t have any information about what led them to release him, but he has been released,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney told MTN that multiple attempts to contact ICE have gone unanswered.
“I haven’t had any contact with government officials or received any kind of official charging documents or any kind of explanation about under what kind of legal authority they had to take him,” said Sweeney.
She believes confusion at the federal level may have led to Del Castillo’s wrongful detainment.
“They are getting directives and then they are not keeping up with the court orders that are halting these directives and so it just puts people at a really vulnerable position, where these officers have a lot of control and power and then they are not up to date with what’s currently happening to give these people protection in the U.S,” said Sweeney.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued the following statement:
"In response to recent media reports and public demonstrations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) affirms that actions taken by Whitefish Border Patrol agents were compliant with federal immigration law and agency protocols.
While CBP does not comment on the specifics of individual enforcement actions due to privacy concerns, it is important to clarify that recent arrests conducted by Border Patrol agents are vetted and legally justified. As stated on form 797C Acknowledgement of Receipt "Having a pending asylum application with USCIS does not preclude ICE or CBP from placing you into removal proceedings."
Additionally, the parole program that allows individuals, to temporarily enter the U.S. does not confer legal immigration status. The parole program is a discretionary measure intended to address specific humanitarian needs, not a guarantee of permanent residency. As stated in federal law [8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A)], parole “shall not be regarded as an admission” and may be revoked at any time. Individuals paroled into the U.S. remain subject to enforcement actions, including expedited removal, with access to asylum screenings and due process.
As part of removal proceedings, U.S. Border Patrol transfers custody of illegal aliens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for further processing. The subsequent discretionary release of an individual by ICE—whether on parole, bond, or recognizance—does not imply that the initial apprehension by Border Patrol was unlawful. Border Patrol agents operate under clear legal authority, and our enforcement actions are conducted in compliance with federal law and established procedures."
