A five-year-old preschooler in Minnesota was taken into custody by federal immigration agents along with his father as they returned home, according to school authorities and the family’s lawyer.
The father-son duo was later transferred to a detention center in Texas. The incident marks the fourth case in recent weeks in which immigration officials have detained a student from the same Minneapolis-area suburb.
The child, Liam Conejo Ramos, was detained from a running car in his family’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said, according to a report in news agency AP.
She alleged that officers asked the boy to knock on the front door to check if others were inside the home, “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait." The boy’s mother, who was inside, did not open the door.
It is learnt that the family arrived in the US in 2024 and has an active asylum case, Stenvik said, with no deportation order issued.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) disputed claims that a child was targeted. In a statement, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that “ICE did NOT target a child."
McLaughlin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was arresting the father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an Ecuadorian national, who she claimed had been living in the country unlawfully, and that he fled “abandoning his child." She added that officers stayed with the boy for safety reasons, adding that parents are typically given options for their children’s care.
Local officials and neighbors said agents refused requests to leave Liam with another adult at the home or with school officials who offered to take responsibility for him.
‘I Am Outraged’: Kamala Harris Condemns ICE Action
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the detention of a five-year-old child, calling it deeply disturbing.
In a post on X, Harris said the child “should be at home with his family," not in a Texas detention facility. She accused ICE agents of using him as “bait".
“Liam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center. I am outraged, and you should be too," she tweeted.
The family’s lawyer said Liam and his father were transferred to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, and have not been directly reachable. Advocates warn of worsening conditions at the facility, citing illness and prolonged detention among children.
School leaders report declining attendance and rising fear among families, as immigration enforcement activity has intensified in the area. Liam’s teacher described him as kind and deeply missed by his classmates.
