US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained a 5-year-old boy on Tuesday during an enforcement operation, Minnesota school officials have said, as part of an immigration crackdown in the state.
Pre-schooler Liam Ramos was with his father – named by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias – when Conejo Arias was approached by agents on his driveway.
In a statement posted on X, the DHS said “ICE did NOT target a child”, but was conducting an operation against his father, an “illegal alien” who “abandoned” his son when approached.
Zena Stenvik, the Columbia Heights Public Schools superintendent, asked: “Why detain a 5-year-old?
“You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”
Photos provided to the BBC by the school district show a boy, identified as Liam Ramos, wearing a bunny-shaped winter hat, standing outside as an officer holds onto his backpack.
The Columbia Heights Public Schools authority described these as bystander photos. The district did not identify the individuals who took the pictures, referring to them as “known and confirmed community members”.
Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the family, told journalists that Liam and his father were likely being held at a detention centre in Texas. School officials said that the father had an active asylum case with no deportation order.
The son had just arrived home from pre-school at the time of the apprehension, Stenvik said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Around the time of the incident, school officials were present at the Ramos house to provide support, according to the schools superintendent.
Stenvik said that ICE had recently detained a total of four students in her school district, including a 10-year-old, and two 17-year-olds.
The DHS did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment on the incident.
In its post on X, the DHS described the arrest as a “targeted operation”. It added: “For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias.
“Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.”
According to Stenvik, another adult living in the home did ask to take the young boy inside but was refused. It was not clear why.
Instead, the school officials allege, an agent asked the child to knock on the door of the home to see if anyone else was there.
Columbia Heights Public Schools Board of Education Chair Mary Granlund said in a statement: “Our children should not be afraid to come to school or wait at the bus stop.
“Their families should not be afraid to drop off or pick up their children from school.”
The DHS has previously said it is arresting the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in an effort to restore public safety in Minnesota.
At a DHS press conference on Tuesday, Gregory Bovino of the US Border Patrol discussed the wider operation and said: “Our operations are lawful, are targeted, and are focused on individuals who pose a serious threat to this community.”
The mission, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, has sparked outcry from residents in Minneapolis, St Paul, and other cities in the state.
On 7 January, a federal officer fatally shot a woman named Renee Good in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protest and condemnation from local and state officials.