Minneapolis families continue to be tormented by ICE agents as a 5-year-old child and his father were detained and then transported to a detention center in Texas after the child came back home from school.
Preschooler Liam Ramos and his father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias were still in their driveway when the agents approached the father. As per Zena Stenvik, Columbia Heights Public Schools superintendent, Arias’ car was still running when agents apprehended both the father and the child. As Stenvik had rushed to their home when she learned ICE were there, she said agents essentially used the child as bait to gain entry to the home.
Stenvik further said that “Liam is one of four children in the school district who have been detained by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in the region over the last two weeks, the district said,” according to The Guardian.
Stenvik also said “another adult living in the home was outside during the encounter and had pleaded to take care of Liam so the boy could avoid detention, but was denied. Liam’s older brother, a middle schooler, came home 20 minutes later to find his father and brother missing. Two school principals from the district also arrived at the home to offer support.”
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The detention of the 5-year-old child naturally sparked outrage as Stenvik posed the question, “Why detain a five-year-old? You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”
Marc Prokosch, the attorney who is representing the family, shared details about their citizenship, saying, “The family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out. They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.” He also mentioned that there were no detention orders against them and believed that the child was with his father in the detention center.
ICE has, however, flatly denied detaining the child and instead claimed that the kid was abandoned by his father. Taking to X, DHS posted, “A criminal illegal alien ABANDONED his child as he fled from ICE officers, and our officers ensured the child was kept SAFE in the bitter cold. ICE made multiple attempts to get the family inside the house to take custody of the child.”
The post further added, “They refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him.”
However, real-time evidence suggests otherwise, and it has also been mentioned that the ICE agents refused to let the child be taken inside his home.
MEDIA LIES: “ICE detained a 5-year-old”
FACTS: A criminal illegal alien ABANDONED his child as he fled from ICE officers, and our officers ensured the child was kept SAFE in the bitter cold. ICE made multiple attempts to get the family inside the house to take custody of the… pic.twitter.com/ymQKVUPmKj
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) January 22, 2026
The Trump administration is naturally standing by the agents and supporting their actions. Vice President JD Vance visited Minnesota on Thursday amid the ongoing protests against ICE and claimed the agents had no other choice since “the father ran.”
He further added, “What are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America? If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who have violated laws because they have children. . . that doesn’t make any sense.”
However, like the killing of Renee Nicole Good, critics argue that the evidence here also suggests foul play, even as top administration officials and the ICE agents deny wrongdoing. Taking a 5-year-old child into detention is indeed inhuman, and as the case is being looked into, more information is awaited on the same.
