DULUTH, Minn. — Federal prosecutors on Monday dropped a criminal case against a Guatemalan man who was accused of ramming an immigration enforcement vehicle outside an Iron Range restaurant earlier this month.

However, the 19-year-old remains in federal custody and still faces administrative proceedings that could result in his deportation from the country.

Jose Miguel Espinoza-Espinoza appeared in U.S. District Court in Duluth on a charge of assaulting a federal officer in the Jan. 16 incident outside Cazadores Mexican Food in Virginia.

But the hearing ended almost as soon as it began. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Endicott moved to dismiss the complaint, informing the court he did not have a federal agent available to testify about the circumstances of the alleged crime.

Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois summarily granted the request, finding the government failed to meet its burden of establishing probable cause to support the charge.

It is believed to be the first time the Justice Department has backed away from prosecuting a suspect for an alleged assault against federal officers amid the ongoing crackdown in Minnesota, according to the New York Times.

State Sen. Jen McEwen and Rep. Liish Kozlowski, both DFL-Duluth, attended the hearing and sat behind Espinoza, who required a Spanish-language interpreter.

The legislators later conferred with his attorney outside the courtroom, as well as a handful of community members who gathered to support Espinoza.

“It’s important that we bear witness and make sure that folks are getting access to their constitutional rights and legal representation,” Kozlowski said. “We’re here to wrap around this community with care and support for the family members, as well as the people who are being, frankly, snatched up and taken from our communities.”

Agent reportedly injured finger

Court filings say several agents were on the scene from Homeland Security Investigations as well as Enforcement and Removal Operations, both divisions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They were reportedly conducting surveillance near Cazadores, 1440 S. 12th Ave. W., when they saw Espinoza arrive in a Mazda 6 that had previously been identified by U.S. Border Patrol agents in International Falls as “being suspected of transporting illegal aliens.”

The complaint says three unidentified men got out of the car and entered the restaurant after arriving in the parking lot around 9:30 a.m. Agents wearing body armor marked “HSI” and “police” approached the car as Espinoza remained in the driver’s seat.

The affidavit alleges that an agent tried to open the door to question Espinoza, but he “rapidly accelerated,” causing an injury to the HSI agent’s finger. The Mazda then crashed into the front of a Ford Explorer, which was occupied by an ERO officer, approximately 10 feet away.

Agents told the court that Espinoza resisted arrest, ignoring commands in Spanish to show his hands, before they were able to handcuff him. He reportedly declined any medical care.

The complaint further alleges that he refused to provide his name and country of birth when initially taken to the Virginia Police Department headquarters. However, later at the Border Patrol station in Duluth, he allegedly identified himself and admitted he is a native of Guatemala who is in the United States illegally.

ICE publicized the incident in a Jan. 18 social media post, saying it is “just one of many” that have contributed to a major increase in vehicles being used as a weapon against agents. However, the agency did not, at the time, specify where the incident occurred.

The complaint was filed last week, with Espinoza making an initial appearance via video conference Wednesday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office requested his continued detention, and without a grand jury indictment in place, prosecutors needed to establish probable cause at Monday’s hearing in order to proceed with the case.

In dismissing the complaint, Brisbois noted the action “in no way affects” the administrative immigration process. He remains in the Douglas County Jail on a federal detainer, and ICE has indicated he faces deportation.

Public defender Siri Carlson McDowell declined to comment after the hearing.

Latest ICE action in Northland

The Northland has seen several immigration enforcement actions in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second administration. Roofers were arrested in Duluth last February and April, and eight people were arrested by ICE as part of a drug investigation connected to two Hibbing restaurants in October.

However, the Twin Cities area has been the epicenter of Trump’s crackdown, with “Operation Metro Surge” bringing thousands of agents to the area this month. The shooting deaths of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have set off nationwide protests and now have the federal government on the verge of a shutdown over Homeland Security funding.

Kozlowski and McEwen said they have been inundated with immigration-related calls in recent weeks. Many of the people arrested by ICE are “essentially disappeared,” McEwen said, in a system that is legally a civil process, not law enforcement.

“We are seeing, basically, an armed, right-wing militia occupying our state, trying to carry out that civil duty that is really the only duty that they’re supposed to have,” the senator said. “It’s really horrifying. It’s very scary for our entire community, and it’s traumatizing.”

The legislators said the case underscores the fact that northeastern Minnesota is not immune from the “siege,” and they again drew attention to the fact that Douglas County houses detainees for ICE.

“Latino, Asian, Somali and Native Americans are being racially profiled, and that is leading to this obliteration of rights,” Kozlowski said. “Sen. McEwen and I are standing firm to say ‘hell no.’ Not in our community, not in our state, not anywhere.”