MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge ordered the United States to pay $15,800 in legal fees in the immigration case of a man who claims he suffered a severe head injury while being taken into custody during Operation Metro Surge.

In an order filed Friday, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank determined the circumstances surrounding the immigration case of Alberto Castañeda Mondragón warranted the amount, saying the facts surrounding his detainment proved “difficult to gather” for attorneys while building the case.

“(His) attorneys were referred to him after he was brought to the hospital by ICE agents. Petitioner had severe head injuries and was in a coma,” Frank said in his order. “This made it difficult to collect information for Petitioner’s case and develop a litigation strategy.”

Lawyers for the U.S. government disputed the amount requested by Castañeda Mondragón’s attorneys, arguing the number of hours they claimed to have worked was not reasonable, and likely duplicative or excessive, according to the judge’s order.

Frank countered that ICE agents “were not forthcoming about the details” surrounding Castañeda Mondragón’s arrest.

“(The case) presented unique challenges that understandably took Petitioner’s attorneys significant time to address,” Frank ruled.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s request for comment. Castañeda Mondragón’s attorneys declined to comment further, citing the active case.

The circumstances surrounding Castañeda Mondragón’s arrest on Jan. 8 are under investigation by police. Castañeda Mondragón claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried taking him into custody in St. Paul, wrestling him from a vehicle, throwing him to the ground, handcuffing him and striking him in the head with a steel baton. Federal agents told hospital workers that “he got his shit rocked” and ran head-first into a brick wall.

A St. Paul Police Department investigation into the encounter is ongoing, a spokesperson told the Minnesota Star Tribune in a statement on Monday.

Castañeda Mondragón’s attorneys filed a lawsuit seeking his release from immigration custody, known as a habeas corpus petition, while he remained in the hospital. His attorneys said his detainment was “solely due to his skin color, perceived ethnicity and/or spoken language,” and without previously knowing his immigration status or identity. In a court filing, an ICE deportation officer said Castañeda Mondragón had overstayed his visa, which he obtained in 2022 while immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico.

Frank approved his release, determining ICE agents did not issue Castañeda Mondragón an arrest warrant when he was taken into custody, only afterward at the Whipple Federal Building.

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