A 5-year-old boy was taken into custody alongside his father by ICE agents in Minnesota on Tuesday, in what local school officials described as another sign of intensified federal immigration enforcement in the state.
The family of Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, has a pending asylum case and no deportation order requiring removal from the United States, officials at his school said in a statement.
According to the school, Liam was detained shortly after arriving home from preschool, while his father was in their driveway.
School officials alleged that another adult who lives in the home pleaded with agents to allow them to care for the child, but was refused.
“Instead, the agent took the child out of the still-running vehicle, led him to the door, and directed him to knock — asking to be let in to see if anyone else was home — essentially using a 5-year-old as bait,” the school’s statement said.
School officials said both Liam and his father remain in government custody.
Bystander Photo
DHS: “ICE did NOT target a child”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security disputed the characterization of the incident.
“ICE did NOT target a child. The child was ABANDONED,” the spokesperson said.
The statement said ICE conducted a targeted operation on Jan. 20 to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, describing him as “an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration.”
According to DHS, as agents approached, Conejo Arias “fled on foot — abandoning his child.” DHS said one officer stayed with the child for safety while other agents apprehended Conejo Arias.
DHS also said parents are asked whether they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place children with a safe person the parent designates, describing that approach as consistent with prior administrations.
Attorney: “They did everything right”
At a press conference Thursday, the family’s attorney said Liam and his father followed the legal process to seek protection.
“Liam and his dad did enter the United States at a port of entry to seek asylum through the CBP One app,” attorney Marc Prokosch said. “They used the app, they made an appointment. They came to the border and presented themselves to Customs and Border Protection.”
“These are not illegal aliens,” Prokosch said. “They came properly.”
Prokosch said the boy and his father are being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.
School leaders warn of fear and trauma
Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, said the ICE activity in the community is “inducing trauma.”
“ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, and coming into our parking lots multiple times and taking our kids,” she said.
Mary Granlund, chair of the Columbia Heights Public Schools Board of Education, said Conejo Ramos’ mother was inside the home when the child was detained.
“She wanted her child,” Granlund said.
School officials also said three other students from the district have recently been detained by immigration authorities.
They said that two weeks ago, a 10-year-old fourth grader was detained on her way to elementary school with her mother. During the arrest, officials said, the child called her father to tell him the agents were bringing her to school.
“The father immediately came to the school to find that both his daughter and wife had been taken,” officials said. “By the end of the school day, they were already in a detention center in Texas, and they are still there.”
School officials also said a 17-year-old high school student was detained Wednesday by “armed and masked agents.”
“Our children should not be afraid to come to school or wait at the bus stop,” Granlund said in a statement. “Their families should not be afraid to drop off or pick up their children from school.”
