A five-year-old boy and his father were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota and taken to a facility in Texas, school officials and the family’s lawyer said.
Liam Ramos is now the fourth student from Columbia Heights Public Schools swept up in ICE activity in Minneapolis in recent weeks, the district said at a news conference Wednesday to speak out against the anti-immigration operation.
Tensions have been inflamed in Minneapolis since an ICE agent fatally shot mother-of-three Renee Good, 37, earlier this month, sparking protests and unrest. Vice President JD Vance is due to deliver remarks in the city Thursday, “focused on restoring law and order in Minnesota.”
Liam and his father, named by the Department of Homeland Security as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who was described as “an illegal alien from Ecuador,” were detained Tuesday afternoon in their driveway on returning home from preschool. Photos released by the district show agents leading the child, wearing a backpack and a blue animal hat, to an SUV in the snow.
“Why detain a five-year-old?” said Superintendent Zena Stenvik. “You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”
The school alleges that once officers apprehended Liam’s father, “the agent took the child out of the still-running vehicle, led him to the door and directed him to knock on the door in order to see if anyone else was home — essentially using a five-year-old as bait.”
There was another adult at home at the time, who “begged the agents to let them take care of the small child, but was refused,” according to Stenvik.
Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary, said the arrest of Liam’s father was “part of a targeted operation” and claimed an agent stayed with Liam for his safety.
“ICE did NOT target a child,” McLaughlin said in a statement to The Independent. “As agents approached the driver, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias fled on foot — abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias.”
“Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates,” McLaughlin continued. “This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.”
Liam and his father were taken to a facility in San Antonio, according to the family’s lawyer Marc Prokosch, who said they are not U.S. citizens but “have been following the legal process perfectly, from presenting themselves at the border to applying for asylum and waiting for the process to go through.”
At Wednesday’s news conference, Liam’s teacher, Ella Sullivan, described him as “a very friendly” student who “brightens the room” when he comes into class each morning.
“His friends haven’t asked about him yet, but I know that they’ll catch on,” she said. “All I want is for him to be back here and safe.”
Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old 4th grader was “taken by ICE agents on her way to one of our elementary schools with her mother,” the school district said.
“During the arrest, the child called her father to tell him the ICE agents were bringing her to school. The father immediately came to the school to find that both his daughter and wife had been taken,” the school said, adding that the mother and child were taken to a detention center in Texas, where they reportedly remain.
On the same day Liam and his father were detained, a 17-year-old Columbia Heights High School student “was taken by armed and masked agents” on their way to school, where no parents were present. “The student was removed from their car and taken away,” the school said.
In another alleged incident last week, ICE agents “pushed their way into an apartment and detained a 17-year-old student and her mother.”
Stevnik said the activity has compromised “the sense of safety in our community” and staff and students have been left “shaken.”
“Staff wear brave faces throughout the day for their students, while facing so many uncertainties,” Stenvik said. “As soon as the school day ends, they are not sure if they will see their students tomorrow morning while taking attendance.”
Mary Granlund, chair of the Columbia Heights Public Schools board of education, said students “should not be afraid to come to school or wait at the bus stop.”
“At the end of the day, we have whistles, and they have guns,” she said.
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