Body camera footage shows that Whitefish Police officer Michael Hingiss contacted federal immigration officials less than two minutes after pulling over a Venezuelan man in a traffic stop earlier this year. 

In the video, which was provided to the Daily Inter Lake, Hingiss can be seen taking Beker Rengifo del Castillo’s driver’s license, vehicle registration and car insurance information after pulling him over for a broken taillight on April 24. Hingiss took the documents back to his patrol vehicle where he immediately called a regional dispatch center for federal immigration officials. 

“Hey there, this is Officer Hingiss with Whitefish Police Department,” said Hingiss about one minute and 48 seconds into the 14-minute long video. “Just out with a male that only speaks Spanish, wondering if you want to check him.”  

The video ends before Whitefish Border Patrol agents detained Rengifo del Castillo. Despite having entered the country legally under a humanitarian parole program, Rengifo del Castillo was held for about a week at the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. He was released April 30 without charge. 

While the Whitefish Police Department did not directly detain Rengifo del Castillo, a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Missoula in August argues that the call catalyzed “a horrific and traumatic experience” for Rengifo del Castillo. The complaint includes three counts against Hingiss for unconstitutional seizure, false arrest and equal protection violations.  

Five separate counts are lodged against the city of Whitefish, including one count of unconstitutional seizure, one count of false arrest, one count of negligence and two counts of failure to train. Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch is named in one count of failure to train.     

Andres Haladay, a lawyer with Upper Seven Law representing Rengifo del Castillo in the lawsuit, said the short timeframe in which Hingiss contacted Border Patrol agents is indicative of racial profiling. At the time of the call, Haladay said Hingiss had no facts to support the assumption that Rengifo del Castillo was in the country illegally. 

Rengifo del Castillo gave his REAL ID compliant Montana driver's license to Hingiss at the beginning of the traffic stop. The license was issued in March 2025, about one month prior to the stop, said Haladay. In Montana, applicants for a driver's license are required to provide proof of citizenship or legal residency status. 

“We don’t know what else that is other than racial profiling,” said Haladay of Hingiss' phone call. 

Whitefish City Manager Dana Meeker confirmed that the Police Department recognizes a REAL ID compliant Montana driver’s license as a valid form of identification, but said the document was not “a valid form of citizenship or legal immigration status.”  

Questioned about the department’s internal policy prohibiting “bias-based policing or improper profiling,” including on the basis of limited English proficiency, Meeker said Border Patrol, not Hingiss, determined the need to investigate Rengifo del Castillo’s immigration status. She cited a specific section of the policy that reads, “Nothing in this policy is intended to prohibit an officer from considering protected characteristics in combination with credible, timely and distinct information connecting a person or people of a specific characteristic to a specific unlawful incident, or to specific unlawful incidents, specific criminal patterns or specific schemes.” 

Meeker did not respond to a request for clarification on the nature of the “specific unlawful incident(s), specific criminal patterns or specific schemes” that would have applied to Rengifo del Castillo. 

IN THE video, Hingiss can be heard providing the Border Patrol dispatcher with Rengifo del Castillo’s information and the location of the traffic stop. The dispatcher can then be faintly heard directing officers in the area to respond to Hingiss’ location. 

The body camera footage indicates that the call lasted for about three and a half minutes — time that Rengifo del Castillo was illegally detained, according to Haladay. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that a traffic stop “become[s] unlawful it if is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete the[e] mission of issuing a ticket for the violation.”   

“The moment he picked up that phone and said, ‘Hello CBP, I have a Spanish speaker,’ he is no longer participating in the conduct to finish that traffic violation,” said Haladay.   

After hanging up the phone call, Hingiss radioed to Whitefish dispatch. 

“I’m 10-4. Just having a language barrier issue,” he said. 

Hingiss appeared to spend the next five minutes typing on the computer in his patrol vehicle. A ticket can be heard printing at about the same time a Border Patrol officer approached Hingiss’ vehicle. 

“Sounds like he’s a Venezuelan, which might mean he has temporary protected status,” said the Border Patrol agent. “We’ll have to find out here soon.” 

“I was just going to give him a warning if you guys want to continue it, check him,” Hingiss replied. 

Dash cam footage shows the Border Patrol agent attempting to open the passenger side door of Rengifo del Castillo’s car as Hingiss approached the driver's side window. Hingiss returned the car insurance and registration to Rengifo del Castillo. 

Haladay said Hingiss handed Rengifo del Castillo’s driver's license to the Border Patrol agent, effectively preventing Rengifo del Castillo from leaving the scene. The angle of the body camera footage prevented the Inter Lake from independently verifying this information. 

Hingiss spent the next four minutes attempting to explain the warning to Rengifo del Castillo, who previously indicated limited knowledge of English. Hingiss repeatedly assured Rengifo del Castillo that the Border Patrol agent was “going to help me with the Spanish."  

At one point, Hingiss directed Rengifo del Castillo to stand at the rear of the car, saying “No ticket. He’s going to help. Just stand back here.” 

Whitefish Police Department does not maintain a policy for translation services, but Meeker stated that the department often uses Google Translate “or other translation services.” Kelch denied early claims that the Border Patrol agent was called to the scene to provide interpretive services, stating that the local Border Patrol office had directed the Whitefish Police Department “not to contact them for interpretation-only services.” 

Meeker said the video was consistent with those claims as Hingiss never requested translation services during the call to Border Patrol dispatch. 

The video ends shortly after a second Border Patrol agent arrived. Hingiss got back into his patrol vehicle as the two federal immigration officials continue conversing with Rengifo del Castillo. 

“I would say the video seems to confirm Officer Hingiss’ motives for calling Border Patrol seem solely based on his perception of Mr. Rengifo del Castillo’s language ability and his perception that he not belong in our community,” said Johnny Ratka Skinner, a local immigration activist who has been heavily involved in Rengifo del Castillo’s case. 

Ratka Skinner provided both sets of video footage to the Inter Lake with permission from Rengifo del Castillo. The Inter Lake’s own requests to view the footage under Montana’s open records laws were denied by the city of Whitefish.  

A preliminary pretrial conference for the case is set for Jan. 30 in Missoula. Newly appointed federal Judge William Mercer is presiding over the case.

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].