JD Vance Defends ICE Detainment of 5-Year-Old Boy

The vice president said he was «proud» that the Trump administration is «standing behind law enforcement» as he was asked about the immigration crackdown in Minnesota on Thursday, Jan. 22

Vice President JD Vance is defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota after images of a 5-year-old boy being detained circulated online.

Speaking during a press conference in Minneapolis on Thursday, Jan. 22, Vance, 41, was asked by a reporter whether he was «proud» of how the Trump administration had been conducting the recent immigration crackdown in the state.

Vance insisted he was proud of the fact they were «standing behind law enforcement,» and proud of the fact they’re «enforcing the country’s laws.»

He was then questioned about the young boy’s detainment, after multiple outlets reported that Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and his dad, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, had been detained in their driveway while returning home from the child’s preschool this week.

The vice president said that — as the father of a 5-year-old son himself — he initially questioned ICE’s actions, but ultimately concluded it was justified when he was told that the boy’s father, who the government says was in the country illegally, fled the scene during an arrest attempt.

“So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do?” the vice president said, as ICE and Border Patrol officers stood behind him. “Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?”

Vance later spoke about kids getting caught up in these arrests, saying, “It’s traumatic for the kids. I can recognize that, and I can recognize that we’ve got to support these kids while, on the other hand, saying that just because you’re a parent doesn’t mean that you get complete immunity from law enforcement.”

Vance’s comments come after viral images showing 5-year-old Liam wearing a blue knitted hat and Spider-Man backpack made headlines.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has since denied that ICE was targeting Liam.

«On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration,» DHS posted on X.

«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,» DHS continued.

After his father had been detained, ICE agents allegedly asked Liam to knock on the door to his home to see if any other people were inside, essentially «using a 5-year-old as bait,” The Washington Post reported, citing Columbia Heights Public Schools.

The school district claimed that another adult living in the home, who had been outside at the time, “begged the agents” to leave Liam with them, but ICE agents refused, according to the outlet.

Liam’s older brother, a middle school student, returned home 20 minutes later to find his father and little brother had been taken away, the paper noted. 

The family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, told The Guardian that Liam and his father had been seeking asylum in the U.S. and had an active case. He also noted that they arrived in the U.S. through an official point of entry.

“The family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,” he said, per the outlet. “They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.” 

The father and son’s detainment comes after weeks of unrest between Minneapolis area locals and federal immigration officials, which escalated after U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on the morning of Jan. 7.

Good, who had been driving a maroon Honda Pilot at the time of her death, had just dropped her 6-year-old son off at school, before her wife Becca, 40, suggested they take a detour, as ICE agents had flooded the city and protesters were already gathering. She never made it home.

Becca said in a statement following the fatal shooting, “We stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns.»