Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says he still feels the pain from his Jan. 8 arrest outside a St. Paul shopping center, where he alleges Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled him from a friend’s car, threw him to the ground, handcuffed him, punched him and struck him in the head with a metal baton. The 31-year-old Mexican national, who entered the U.S. legally in March 2022, says he was taken to a detention facility and beaten again. Emergency-room doctors later identified eight skull fractures and five brain hemorrhages.
Castañeda Mondragón was so disoriented after the injuries that he briefly could not remember his 10-year-old daughter. He continues to experience memory gaps, balance and coordination problems, and needs ongoing care but has no health insurance and cannot work.
He says officers used an ASP telescoping baton, a tool commonly carried by law enforcement. Training materials and many police use-of-force policies permit baton strikes to limbs or the torso but warn that blows to the head, neck or spine are potentially lethal and should be used only when a subject presents a threat comparable to one that would justify using a firearm.
Nurses at Hennepin County Medical Center told hospital staff that ICE officers said Castañeda Mondragón had run headfirst into a brick wall. A CT scan showed fractures across the front, back and both sides of his skull. An independent physician consulted by The Associated Press said the pattern of injuries was not consistent with an accidental fall. Castañeda Mondragón told AP he was hit with the same metal rod officers used to break the vehicle windows during the arrest.
A short video shared on social media shows four masked men escorting a handcuffed man through a parking lot while he staggers and is supported by officers. People nearby warn others not to resist and comment that the man appears concussed. The person who posted the clip declined to speak with AP, but Castañeda Mondragón confirmed he is the man shown.
Hospital staff and court filings say ICE officers remained with Castañeda Mondragón while he was treated at HCMC. Nurses who spoke to AP anonymously described his declining condition and said at least one officer later used coarse language to describe how officers had handled him. AP interviewed a doctor and five nurses about his care and the presence of ICE staff; the outside physician who reviewed the records said the injuries did not fit the officers’ wall story.
In a federal court declaration on Jan. 20, ICE deportation officer William J. Robinson said only that staff determined Castañeda Mondragón had a head injury that required emergency medical treatment. The declaration noted that he had entered the U.S. legally in March 2022 and that the agency learned after the arrest he had overstayed his visa. A federal judge later found the arrest unlawful and ordered his release.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to repeated requests for comment. It is unclear whether body-camera or detention-center surveillance footage exists; DHS has recently announced an expanded rollout of body cameras for immigration officers in Minneapolis while reducing ICE presence there.
Minnesota law requires health professionals to report wounds that could be criminal. An HCMC spokeswoman would not say whether staff filed a report. After AP first reported the case on Jan. 31, hospital administrators opened an internal inquiry to track which employees had spoken to the media, according to internal communications reviewed by AP.
Castañeda Mondragón’s case has heightened tensions between federal immigration agents and the Minneapolis medical community and arrived amid broader controversy. His arrest came one day after the first of two fatal shootings by immigration officers in Minneapolis that prompted public protests. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz cited earlier reporting and condemned aggressive federal tactics, saying they have injured and terrorized residents.
Local leaders, including Minnesota’s congressional delegation and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s administration, called for investigations. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office urged Castañeda Mondragón to file a police report so prosecutors could open a probe; he plans to do so and St. Paul police said they will investigate any reported crimes. Elected officials have criticized ICE operations in the state and pressed for accountability. During a recent tour, Representative Kelly Morrison, a physician, described overcrowding and poor medical care at the Fort Snelling ICE facility.
A native of Veracruz, Castañeda Mondragón moved to Minnesota nearly four years ago on a temporary work visa and worked as a driver and roofer, sending money home to his elderly, disabled father and his daughter in Mexico. He and a friend say agents surrounded their vehicle, broke windows and opened doors; he recalls being struck and insulted for being Mexican and lacking immigration documents. About four hours after his arrest he was taken to an Edina emergency room with swelling and bruising around his right eye and bleeding, then transferred to HCMC, where records say he reported being dragged and mistreated by federal agents.
He was minimally responsive about a week into his hospitalization but gradually improved and was released Jan. 27. His daughter has called daily from Mexico, trying to help him recover memories she remembers. Community members in Minneapolis-St. Paul have raised funds for his food, housing and medical care, and he has set up a GoFundMe page.
Castañeda Mondragón faces a long recovery and an uncertain future. He cannot climb roofs for work and needs help with basic tasks such as bathing. He fears leaving home or trying to return to work because he worries ICE could stop him again. Despite the trauma, he said he hopes to remain in the U.S. and eventually support his family, distinguishing between the welcoming people he has met in Minnesota and the federal officers he says beat him.