Federal immigration enforcement actions in a Minneapolis suburb have sparked outrage and concern after a five-year-old child was detained by ICE alongside his father, according to school officials and family representatives.
The child, Liam Ramos, was taken into custody on Tuesday as he returned home from school in Columbia Heights.
School district officials said Liam and his father were apprehended in their driveway and later transported to a detention center in Texas.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, described the incident as deeply disturbing.
She said the father’s vehicle was still running when she arrived at the home after learning of the detention.
According to Stenvik, an ICE agent removed Liam from the car and led him to the front door, instructing the child to knock to see if anyone else was inside the home.
She described the action as effectively using a five-year-old child to check the residence. Another adult in the home reportedly begged agents to allow Liam to stay behind, but the request was denied.
Liam’s older brother, a middle school student, returned home roughly 20 minutes later to find both his father and younger sibling gone. Two school principals arrived shortly afterward to support the family.
The family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, said the family has an active asylum case and provided documentation showing that the father and son entered the United States at an official port of entry.
“They did everything they were supposed to do,” Prokosch said, adding that there is no deportation order against them and that he believes the father and son remain together in detention.
In response, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said ICE was conducting a “targeted operation” to arrest the father, whom she described as an “illegal alien.”
McLaughlin denied that ICE targeted a child, stating that officers remained with Liam only after the father allegedly fled on foot.
She said parents are given the option to remain with their children or designate a safe adult to take custody.
School officials released photographs showing Liam outside his home with a masked agent and standing near a vehicle while an adult held his backpack.
Stenvik questioned the necessity of the action, asking why a preschooler would ever be treated as a public safety threat.
Liam’s teacher described him as a bright and loving student who brought joy to his classroom, saying his absence has been deeply felt by classmates.
The case is not isolated. Stenvik reported that four students in the district have been detained by ICE in recent weeks amid a surge in federal enforcement.
She detailed additional incidents involving a 17-year-old student detained without parents present, another teenage girl detained with her mother after agents entered an apartment, and a 10-year-old girl taken with her mother on the way to school and later transferred to Texas.
Stenvik also said ICE vehicles were seen on school property on Wednesday, raising further alarm among administrators and families.
“Our children are traumatized,” she said. “The sense of safety around our schools is shaken.”
As fear spreads through the community, some families have reportedly kept children home from school.
District leaders say they are now helping families navigate immigration issues while trying to maintain a safe learning environment.
“They are children,” Stenvik said. “They are not violent criminals. They are little kids.”
The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly addressed all of the additional detentions reported by the school district.
