Whitefish city officials said they are navigating “fairly murky waters” with local U.S. Border Patrol agents as the Trump administration ramps up its immigration enforcement agenda.

Federal immigration officials have operated continuously out of an office in Whitefish since 1955. Officials categorized the historic relationship between the city and Border Patrol as cooperative, but national tensions are now straining decades of interagency goodwill. 

“We don’t really know what they’re doing,” said Whitefish City Councilor Ben Davis of the local Border Patrol office. “They’re not transparent about it.” 

That worries him, especially after the recent detainment of Kalispell resident Beker Rengifo del Castillo. 

Originally from Venezuela, Rengifo del Castillo had lived in the Flathead Valley under a humanitarian parole program for nearly a year when he was pulled over by a Whitefish Police officer for a routine traffic stop in April. The officer contacted federal immigration officials during the stop, and a Border Patrol agent subsequently arrived at the scene. 

Rengifo del Castillo was detained in federal custody for one week before being released without charge. He had no known criminal convictions.  

The Trump administration has repeatedly challenged the humanitarian status held by Rengifo del Castillo and thousands of other South and Central American immigrants, but a federal court had blocked immigration officials from executing on the administration’s wishes at the time of Rengifo del Castillo’s arrest. 

Davis said it was likely “some unjust things happened” when Rengifo del Castillo was detained, though he steered clear of blaming the officer who initiated the traffic stop. 

“I think people have the right to be concerned about it,” said Davis. “I’m concerned about it.” 

So is City Councilor Rebecca Norton. She said that she hopes the Police Department steers away from interactions with Border Patrol agents in the future, except in cases that involve criminal activity. Most immigration violations are charged as civil offenses. 

“After what happened with Beker, I think our police were informed not to do immigration enforcement when it’s not really their job to do that,” she said. 

Norton declined to comment on who handed that directive down to city police, stating only that “there was a discussion about the direction going forward” that involved a review of the city charter, internal Police Department policies and case studies of other cities with Border Patrol offices. It also remains unclear how binding that discussion will be on actions taken by Whitefish Police officers.  

Per the Police Department's policy on immigration violations, officers “should not detain any individual, for any length of time, for a civil violation of federal immigration laws or a related civil warrant.”  

But Montana state law prohibits the city from enacting policies to restrict officers from participating in immigration actions in other ways. Local government employees, for example, cannot be prohibited from communicating with federal officials about an individual’s immigration status “for a lawful purpose.” 

Following Rengifo del Castillo’s detainment, Whitefish Police Chief Bridger Kelch stated that the department implemented a policy requiring officers to notify a supervisor before contacting immigration officials. Kelch did not respond to a request for comment on this story. 

The main takeaway, said City Councilor Giuseppe Caltabiano, is that immigration issues fall outside of the jurisdiction of city employees.  

“If you’re paying my salary and you find out I’m not doing the job you pay me for, that’s a disservice to the community,” said Caltabiano. “If it’s not in their job description, they should not. It’s none of their business.” 

But, if federal officials make immigration issues the Police Department’s business, Caltabiano said that officers would “have to go by the book.” 

City officials have repeatedly spurned the idea of participating in the 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement agencies to enforce certain aspects of federal immigration law. The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office participates in the program. 

City Councilor Andy Feury declined to comment on the approach he believes the city should take to immigration enforcement. 

“I don’t know the law well enough,” he said. “The rules have been changing quite frequently.” 

He added that the city has “relied on our Police Department to comply with both the ICE laws and what Border Patrol wants.” 

City councilors Steve Qunell and Frank Sweeney and Mayor John Muhlfeld did not respond to requests for comment. 

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