An undocumented immigrant, who alleged severe mistreatment by immigration officials resulting in a memory loss of his daughter, sustained a head injury during an escape attempt, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday.
The incident occurred when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were in the process of detaining 31-year-old Alberto Castaneda-Mondragon, a citizen of Mexico, in Minnesota on January 8. During the operation, Castaneda-Mondragon attempted to flee while handcuffed, the DHS reported.
“While in restraints, Castaneda-Mondragon tried to escape custody, heading toward a busy highway,” the agency detailed on X. “In his attempt, he stumbled and collided with a concrete wall, injuring his head.”
Alberto Castañeda Mondragón is seen in a portrait taken on February 4, 2026, in St. Paul, Minnesota. DHS officials reported that he injured himself while trying to evade federal authorities. (Mark Vancleave/AP Photo)
After apprehending Castaneda-Mondragon, officers summoned an ambulance to assess his condition, DHS stated. However, he declined medical treatment, asserting he was unharmed.
The officers informed the medical staff at the detention center, and subsequently, Castaneda-Mondragon was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center to address his head injury.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Castaneda recalled the events differently.
“They started beating me right away when they arrested me,” he said.
He told the news outlet that he was in a vehicle with a friend with ICE agents pulled them over outside a St. Paul shopping center. He said he was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and then punched and struck in the head with a steel baton.
Observers film ICE agents as they hold a perimeter after one of their vehicles got a flat tire on Penn Avenue on Feb. 5, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
He remembers being dragged into an SUV and taken to a detention facility, where he said he was beaten again.
Castaneda said also remembers the emergency room and the intense pain from eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages.
“There was never a wall,” Castañeda said in Spanish.
Once he was taken to an ICE holding facility at Ft. Snelling in suburban Minneapolis, Castañeda said officers resumed beating him. He pleaded with them to stop but they just “laughed at me and hit me again,” he said.
“They were very racist people,” he said. “No one insulted them, neither me nor the other person they detained me with. It was their character, their racism toward us, for being immigrants.”
Homeland Security placed the blame on Castaneda and those who dangerously resist arrest when confronted by authorities.
“Resisting officers and evading arrest is dangerous for our officers, illegal aliens, and the public — it is also a felony and a federal crime,” the agency said. “Sanctuary politicians need to stop encouraging this dangerous behavior that puts our officers and the public at risk.”
