A man who was arrested and charged with failing to pay his fare on a Minnesota light rail train is facing deportation after undergoing what the authorities described as inappropriate questioning about his immigration status by a transit police officer.

The encounter, which took place in Minneapolis on May 14, was captured on a video that was posted to Facebook on May 19. In it, an officer approaches the man, identified in a police report as Ariel Vences-Lopez, 23, and requests his name and state identification.

“Are you here illegally?” the officer asks.

A bystander who appears to be the person filming the interaction asks whether he or other transit police officers are authorized to act as immigration authorities.

The officer shrugs, and replies, “No, not necessarily.”

According to the Metro Transit Police Department’s incident report, an officer identified as Andy Lamers also used a Taser on Mr. Vences-Lopez, an action not captured in the 35-second video, after he refused orders to sit.