US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials detained a 5-year-old boy on Tuesday in an enforcement operation, Minnesota school officials said, as part of an immigration crackdown in the state.
Pre-schooler Liam Ramos was with his father – identified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias – when Conejo Arias was approached by agents on his way.
on a statement posted by Xthe DHS said “ICE did NOT target a child”, but conducted an operation against his father, an “illegal alien” who “abandoned” his son when approached.
Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, asked: “Why is a 5-year-old child being held back?
“You can’t tell me that this kid is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”
Photos provided to the BBC by the school district show a boy, identified as Liam Ramos, wearing a rabbit-shaped winter hat, standing outside while an officer grabs his backpack.
The Columbia Heights Public Schools authority describes these sighting photos. The district did not identify the individuals who took the photos, referring to them as “known and confirmed members of the community”.
Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the family, told reporters that Liam and his father are likely being held in a detention center in Texas. School officials said the father has an active asylum case without a deportation order.
The son had just arrived home from pre-school at the time of the arrest, Stenvik said at a press conference on Wednesday.
At the time of the incident, school officials were at Ramos’ home to provide support, according to the superintendent of schools.
Stenvik said ICE recently detained a total of four students in his school district, including a 10-year-old, and two 17-year-olds.
The DHS did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment on the incident.
In its post on X, DHS described the arrest as a “targeted operation”. It added: “For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers stayed with the child while other officers arrested Conejo Arias.
“Parents are being asked if they want to be removed with their children, or have ICE place the children with a safe person designated by the parent. This is consistent with the previous administration’s immigration enforcement.”
According to Stenvik, another adult living in the house asked to let the child in but was refused. It is not clear why.
Instead, school officials allege, an agent asked the boy to knock on the door to see if anyone else was there.
Columbia Heights Public Schools Board of Education Chair Mary Granlund said in a statement: “Our children should not be afraid to go to school or wait at the bus stop.
“Their families should not be afraid to drop off or pick up their children from school.”
DHS previously said it was arresting “the worst of the criminal illegal aliens” in an effort to restore public safety in Minnesota.
In a DHS press conference on Tuesday, Gregory Bovino of the US Border Patrol discussed the broader operation and said: “Our operations are lawful, targeted, and focused on individuals who pose a serious threat to this community.”
The mission, called Operation Metro Surge, sparked an outcry from residents of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and other cities in the state.
On January 7, a federal officer fatally shot a woman named Renee Good in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests and condemnation from local and state officials.