Chief public defender outraged by immigration detainments inside Hennepin County courthouse

Federal immigration officers detained two people inside the Hennepin County Government Center on Thursday after their court hearing on charges of criminal sexual conduct.

The agents detained Daniel Alejandro Torrealba Mendez and Joseelin Josimar Castillo Sequera near the security screening area that is inside the Government Center towers, where Hennepin County courtrooms are located. The detainments, which were aided by Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies, set off a scramble inside the Government Center as rumors swirled that federal agents were going from courtroom to courtroom looking for immigration targets. The Fourth Judicial District, which covers all the courts in Hennepin County, later said that was not happening.

Mike Berger, the chief public defender in Hennepin County, whose office represents Torrealba Mendez and Castillo Sequera, said the detainments were unconstitutional. He was incensed that federal agents and state law enforcement did not allow Torrealba Mendez and Castillo Sequera to speak with their attorneys.

“ICE arrests before completion of the state case is a new and unprecedented interruption of due process in state courts,” Berger said. “The interference with attorney representation even in the course of an arrest is unconstitutional and frankly completely unacceptable.”

Video shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune of the incident showed masked federal agents in plain clothes and deputies with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office bringing Castillo Sequera out of the courthouse into the Government Center atrium. She appeared to be handcuffed and in distress. Torrealba Mendez was also handcuffed and being held by an ICE agent in the public atrium.

Bonney Bowman, the spokeswoman for the Fourth Judicial District, said their detainments were legally allowed in the courthouse.

“Federal agents with proper documentation can go through security and be in any public area of the courthouse, where they are allowed to detain people,” she said.

“Is there a warrant? Did anyone present a warrant? I’m looking at the deputies, they know who I am, I see them every day,” Sherman said. “They wouldn’t answer. They just were telling me, get back, get back.”

Sherman said the deputies surrounded the two detainees and put them in an elevator down to the parking ramp.

When asked whether Sherman had any insight on where Torrealba Mendez and Castillo Sequera were taken, she said, “I would assume they’re at Whipple, but who knows.”

Torrealba Mendez was awaiting a court hearing on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old; Castillo Sequera is charged with aiding and abetting the assault. The charges are the kind of serious crimes that the Trump administration has used as justification for the deployment of thousand of federal agents to Minnesota for Operation Metro Surge.

But neither has been convicted. Their immigration status is currently unknown. Messages left with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a response to the detainments weren’t immediately answered.

Berger said Torrealba Mendez and Castillo Sequera showed up to court and had attorneys present, and ICE agents knew that.

Hennepin County Security runs weapons screening and building security inside the Government Center. Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Megan Larson said, “We are aware of an incident that occurred earlier today at the Government Center and are still actively gathering information. What we know now is that deputies were dispatched on a reported fight call and arrived to find federal agents attempting to take into custody two individuals.”

This week, White House border czar Tom Homan said that unprecedented cooperation between county sheriffs and the federal government to allow ICE to detain immigration targets in county jails led to a drawdown of 700 federal agents from Minnesota.

The Star Tribune obtained an internal message sent to the staff of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting Torrealba Mendez and Castillo Sequera, addressing the situation. It noted that “we believe ICE is no longer in the building” but that the arrests inside the courthouse “impact our staff, victims witnesses and others we work closely with.”