Minnesota ICE Detains 5-Year-Old With Father After Preschool Drop-Off, Officials Say
Columbia Heights, Minn. — A 5-year-old boy returning from preschool and his father were taken into federal custody Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), igniting fresh controversy over immigration enforcement tactics. According to school officials and multiple news organizations, the encounter happened in the family’s driveway as the boy and his dad arrived home from school.
The boy, identified as Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias were arrested without an apparent deportation order, officials said, leading to questions about why a young child was involved.
Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik told reporters that after agents detained the father, they took Liam from the still-running vehicle and directed him to knock on the front door to check if others were inside, a move she described as essentially “using a 5-year-old as bait.”
Despite an adult family member offering to care for the child at the scene, agents reportedly declined and both father and son were transported to a detention facility in Texas.
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“The family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,” the family’s attorney said, noting the active asylum application.
Department of Homeland Security and ICE have defended the operation, stating the father was the enforcement target, that children are not targeted, and that policy allows parents to decide whether to stay with their children or designate a caretaker.
Immigration advocates and local leaders say the incident is part of a broader surge in enforcement in the Twin Cities area, raising fears among immigrant communities and prompting calls for policy changes.
Lawyers for the family are pursuing legal avenues for their release. National attention and possible legal challenges are expected in the coming days as community leaders press for clarification on how children are handled in enforcement actions.
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