ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy as he came home, say school officials
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a five-year-old Minnesota boy returning home from school on Tuesday and transported him and his father to a detention center in Texas, according to school officials.
Preschooler Liam Ramos and his father were detained in the driveway, the superintendent of the school district in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights said at a news conference Wednesday. The district said Liam, who recently turned five, was one of four children in the school district detained by federal immigration officials during the Trump administration’s enforcement of the district over the past two weeks.
According to Chief Zena Stenvik, Liam and his father were detained when they had just arrived home, and she said she went to the house when she learned of the detentions.
When Stenvik arrived at the scene, the father’s car was still running and the father and son had already been captured, he said. The investigator said in a statement that an agent removed Liam from the car, took the boy to his front door and asked him to knock “to see if anyone else was in the house – essentially using a five-year-old child as bait.”
Stenvik said another adult living in the home was outside at the time of the encounter and asked to take care of Liam so the child would not be taken into custody, but was rebuffed. Stenvik said Liam’s older brother, a middle school student, came home 20 minutes later to find his father and brother missing. Two school principals from the region also came to the house and gave their support.
Marc Prokosch, an attorney representing the family, said the family has an active asylum case and shared documents showing that the father and son came to the United States from a port of entry, that is, an official transit point.
“The family did everything they were supposed to do in accordance with the way the rules were set,” he said. “They didn’t come here illegally. They’re not criminals.” He said that there was no deportation order against them and that he believed that the father and son remained in custody together.
Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to questions about the child’s detention Wednesday evening.
School officials released two photos of the encounter; one showed Liam in a blue knit hat outside his front door, flanked by a masked agent, and the other showed Liam standing next to a car with a man holding his backpack.
“Why are you detaining a five-year-old? You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent offender,” Stenvik said.
The school district released a statement from Liam’s teacher, who expressed shock at the boy’s detention: “Liam is a bright, young student. He is so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him. He comes to class every day and lights up the room. I just want him to come back here and be safe.”
Detaining a minor child will have ripple effects, Prokosch said. “When his classmates find out the government is taking him away… I’m not authorized to talk about how much damage that will cause. It’s not just the family, it’s the entire community, it’s all the kids who are now going to face secondary trauma.”
Also Tuesday, Stenvik said a 17-year-old Columbia Heights student was abducted without her parents by “armed and masked agents.” He said the student was removed from his car.
In another case on Jan. 14, ICE agents “entered an apartment building and detained a 17-year-old high school girl and her mother,” Stenvik said.
In the fourth case, it was alleged that on January 6, a 10-year-old fourth grade student was abducted by ICE while she was going to primary school with her mother. The investigator said the 10-year-old boy called his father during the arrests and told him ICE agents would bring him to school, but when the father arrived at the school, he learned that both his daughter and his wife had been kidnapped. At the end of that school day, mother and daughter were in a detention center in Texas.
As school officials prepared for a news conference Wednesday afternoon, an ICE vehicle drove onto area high school grounds and was told by administrators to leave, Stenvik said.
“ICE agents are walking around our neighborhoods, around our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our children away,” Stenvik said.
Relating to: Pregnant woman in medical distress deported from US, lawyer says
DHS did not respond to questions about other arrests and the report of ICE’s arrival on campus.
In an interview after the press conference, the superintendent said ICE’s arrests and looming presence have had a huge impact on students, parents and school staff.
“Our children are traumatized. The sense of safety in our community and around our schools has been shaken,” Stenvik said. “I can speak on behalf of the entire school staff when I say that our hearts are shattered. After our fourth student was kidnapped yesterday, I thought someone needed to hear the story. They are taking the children away.”
School officials said some families chose to stay home due to fear of frost.
Stenvik said school administrators are working to help families affected by ICE. “Our mission is to educate kids during the school day. But now we’re trying to help people navigate this legal system.” He added: “Our main priority is keeping children safe. They are children. They are not violent criminals. They are young children.”
Rachel Leingang contributed reporting
