A five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside his home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. The incident occurred while the child was returning home from preschool with his father. According to Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik, Liam was essentially used as a distraction by ICE officers in their pursuit of his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias.
The school official stated that another adult at the residence pleaded with the agents to allow them to care for the child but was denied. Instead, an agent removed Liam from the car, escorted him to the door, and instructed him to knock, using him as a means to determine if anyone else was present at the house.
Following the detainment, Liam and his father were reportedly taken to the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Texas. The family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, criticized the detention of children and families seeking asylum as inhumane and unacceptable.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed that ICE did not target the child but was conducting a targeted operation to apprehend Liam’s father, described as an “illegal alien from Ecuador.” ICE Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin emphasized that Liam was not the target of the operation but was safeguarded by an agent while his father was apprehended.
Minnesota officials, including Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz, condemned the incident, expressing concerns over the reported detainment of a preschooler by ICE agents. Governor Walz called for an end to what he described as a campaign of retribution by the Trump administration.
The detainment of Liam is one of several recent cases where students from the same school district were apprehended by ICE agents. Stenvik revealed that other children from the district had also been taken into custody in separate incidents. The Homeland Security statement did not address these additional cases, and CBC News is awaiting further details on those situations.