Columbia Heights, Minnesota school district officials say their sense of security is shaken and their hearts are broken after the recent shooting of four students in the district. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
The Columbia Heights Public School District says two children, including a 17-year-old boy, were taken on their way to school on Tuesday. He was removed from his car and taken away.
Later in the afternoon, 5-year-old Liam Ramos was taken with his father as he walked down the street after arriving home from his preschool classroom. School officials say the child was used as bait to knock on the door and ask for entry, allowing officers to see if anyone else was home.
“Why arrest a 5-year-old? You can’t tell me that this kid is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” said Superintendent Zena Stenvik.
The Department of Homeland Security later said that the child was not the target of ICE, but “abandoned” by the father. She said her father fled from federal agents when they approached his vehicle, leaving the child behind. DHS said the father, who was described as an illegal alien from Ecuador, was later arrested after other ICE agents stayed with the child.
School officials say there was an adult there who offered to take the child, but ICE refused.
Federal officials said Thursday that the boy and his father are being held together at an immigration processing center in Dilley, Texas.
An attorney for the Ramos family, Marc Prokosch, and the school district deny that Liam was abandoned by his father.
Prokosch said Liam and his father entered the U.S. legally from Ecuador and Liam’s father does not appear to have a criminal record.
The Ecuadorian government said its consulate in Minneapolis contacted ICE as soon as it learned Liam was in custody, adding that it is “monitoring the condition of the children to ensure their safety and well-being.”
Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old fourth-grader was taken by ICE agents on his way to elementary school with his mother. During the arrest, the child called his father on the phone to say that ICE agents were taking him to the school. The father then came to the school to find out that his daughter and wife had been taken.
School officials say the children and their parents are being held at a Texas detention center. They say Liam Ramos’ family is following US legal parameters and has an active asylum case without a removal order.
Even the school officials don’t know what happened. They want the public to get involved because it’s happening to students across the state of Minnesota.
“We ask that you please contact your congressional representative to find an immediate and peaceful solution to this occupation,” Stenvik said. “Please help us and other schools to once again be a safe place where we all belong and everyone succeeds.”
The district also has an immigration attorney to help students figure out how to get back to Minnesota.
Meanwhile, regional officials say ICE continues to walk around their schools — Keeping children, parents and workers at the border.