A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of a Mexican man from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Minnesota after he suffered life-threatening head injuries following his arrest. The man, identified as Alberto C.M., was hospitalised with skull fractures and brain haemorrhages shortly after being taken into custody in St. Paul during a surge of immigration enforcement officers in the state.
The cause of his injuries remains unknown. According to a lawsuit, officers told hospital staff that he was “laying down in handcuffs when he attempted to flee, and then, for unknown reasons, purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.” ICE has largely refused to provide information about the incident, except to say that he “got his s*** rocked,” according to the judge. Alberto C.M. told medical staff at Hennepin County Medical Center that he was “dragged and mistreated by federal agents.”
Judge Donovan Frank’s order on Friday noted that Alberto C.M. has remained in ICE custody since his arrest, handcuffed to his hospital bed. The judge wrote that there is no reason to believe he was arrested for any reason other than being “a brown-skinned Latino Spanish-speaker at a location that immigration agents arbitrarily decided to target.” An ICE official told the court that Alberto was in the middle of the intake process for removal proceedings when a head injury was discovered, but the process has not been completed 15 days after his arrest.
The case comes amid growing protests against the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign in the Minneapolis area. The surge is Homeland Security’s largest immigration enforcement operation yet, with officers accused of violent targeting. Administration officials have denied allegations of unconstitutional abuse, while a federal judge has moved to block officers from using riot control weapons against demonstrators, though an appeals court has temporarily frozen that order.
Healthcare workers at Hennepin Healthcare have spoken out against federal officers at hospitals, fearing their presence disrupts care and deters people from seeking treatment. State Senator Alice Mann said ICE agents are “bringing in their patients with injuries that are completely inconsistent with the stories that they are telling.” The incident highlights concerns about deaths in ICE custody, with 32 deaths in 2025 and at least six in the first weeks of 2026.
