1 week Ago By CARLY GRAF [email protected]
A 33-year-old Venezuelan living and working in Kalispell under a lawful immigration status was pulled over Thursday evening, according to his attorney and two people close to him. Less than 24 hours later, he was confirmed to be in the custody of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A person who answered the phone at the Whitefish Police Department on Friday afternoon acknowledged they were “aware” of the incident but directed the Montana State News Bureau to the department’s deputy police chief, who did not respond by Saturday morning to multiple messages left requesting more information. Beker Enrique Rengifo del Castillo arrived in the United States last year, according to records obtained by the Montana State News Bureau.
He came through a Biden-era humanitarian parole program set aside for Venezuelans and migrants from three other countries. This legal immigration pathway allows eligible individuals to live in the United States for up to two years. They must pass a background check and obtain an in-country sponsor who agrees to provide financial support.
The Department of Homeland Security granted Rengifo’s application for work authorization on Aug. 13, 2024. Documents show he could lawfully work in the country until July 14, 2026.
There are certain circumstances under which a person’s humanitarian parole status can be revoked, but it’s a high bar. A Montana State News Bureau search of court records from Kalispell, Whitefish and Flathead County showed no charges or convictions of Rengifo. Andrea Sweeney, a Missoula-based attorney representing Rengifo, said his legal status had not been revoked and his detention by immigration authorities was unlawful.
“Parole just doesn’t get taken away for nothing,” Sweeney said. News of the arrest spurred a small demonstration Thursday night in front of the Customs and Border Protections office in Whitefish. Sweeney added that she had been in touch with CBP about the case, but had not been given any “clear answers” as to the reason for Rengifo’s detention as of late Friday afternoon.
“Privacy Act restrictions prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection from commenting about individual cases,” an agency spokesperson said to the Montana State News Bureau in an email.
As of Saturday at 8 a.m., messages left with the Whitefish Police Department, the City Attorney’s Office and two city council members about the reasons for Rengifo’s detention had gone unreturned.
ICE did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The Trump White House has made immigration a focal point of its second administration, prompting a flurry of arrests all over the country, including in the Flathead Valley. But this is the first case in Montana that Sweeney is aware of involving a person with lawful status being detained by federal immigration authorities.
“It is extremely concerning to be detaining people in the United States with lawful status,” Sweeney said. People stroll through downtown Whitefish in this file photo. Law enforcement agencies are required to provide translation for people who have limited English language proficiency — a provision in the federal Civil Rights Act.
One way they can do that is by calling immigration authorities to help. Other options include a variety of online or over-the-phone tools. Some law enforcement agencies around the country employ interpreters.
Text messages obtained by the Montana State News Bureau and translated from Spanish between Rengifo and a friend suggest he was pulled over by local police, who then called border patrol officers shortly after the stop. Rengifo wrote “they want to send me to Venezuela,” and “you have to come.” Two hours later, his phone stopped receiving text messages.
The Montana State News Bureau has been unable to confirm official details of the stop, despite repeated messages left with the law enforcement officials seeking more information. Humanitarian parole is a legal immigration pathway that has been an option for some migrants for decades. The Biden Administration put a new spotlight on the program in 2023 when it created a carveout for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
People from these four countries could apply for entry under CHNV parole. If admitted, people could live and work in the country for up to two years. At the same time, the Biden administration ramped up enforcement against people crossing the southern border without documentation.
By creating a new pathway for legal entry while bolstering punishment for doing so illegally, the Biden administration hoped it could curb the historic levels of people crossing the southern border without documentation. Early in his administration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that sought to eliminate CHNV humanitarian parole as legal justification for being in the country. It gave people until April 24 to leave the country or have their case reviewed.
Defense lawyer: Montana Border Patrol made 'irresponsible' gang allegations However, a federal judge on April 14 temporarily blocked that order to keep it from going into effect. No new applications for CNHV parole status would be reviewed, but existing cases would be honored until a final decision is made. In addition to his humanitarian parole status, Rengifo had also applied for asylum, a protection that can be granted to people found to have credible fears of persecution in their home country.
Federal authorities confirmed receipt of his application, documents reviewed by the Montana State News Bureau show, and they had scheduled Rengifo for a biometrics appointment on April 23 to collect his fingerprints, photo, and signature. According to Sweeney, when an asylum application is pending, a person is protected against deportation through something called an “authorized stay” until they have received a final decision. A person close to Rengifo described him as laid back with a strong work ethic.
With a wife and daughter back in Venezuela, Rengifo came to the country to try to build them a better life, the individual, whose name is being withheld to avoid retaliation, added. “We did everything right,” the person said. As of 8 a.
m. Saturday, ICE had not stated where Rengifo was being held, only that he was in the agency’s custody. The closest ICE immigration detention center is in Tacoma, Washington.
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