Immigration agents detained a five-year-old boy and his father in their Minnesota driveway on Tuesday moments after they arrived home from school, then flew them to a Texas detention centre, as The Guardian reports.
Liam Ramos becomes the fourth child from Columbia Heights schools seized by ICE in two weeks as the Trump administration ramps up enforcement in the Minneapolis suburb, district officials said Wednesday.
The father’s car was still running when the school superintendent Zena Stenvik reached the house. Both were already in custody. An agent had pulled Liam from the vehicle, walked him to his front door and made him knock—checking if anyone else was inside. Stenvik said agents used a five-year-old as bait.
Another adult living there watched the whole thing unfold outside and begged agents to let Liam stay. They refused. Twenty minutes later, Liam’s older brother came home from middle school to find his father and little brother gone. Two principals showed up to help.
The family has an active asylum claim and entered the US at an official port of entry, not illegally, said Marc Prokosch, their attorney. He showed reporters the paperwork proving it. The family followed every rule, he said. No deportation order exists against them. Prokosch believes father and son remain together in detention.
Schools released two photos: one shows Liam in a blue knit hat at his front door with a masked agent standing beside him; another shows him by a car whilst a man grips his backpack.
Why grab a five-year-old, Stenvik asked. You cannot classify this child as a violent criminal.
The Department of Homeland Security hit back Wednesday night. Assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said ICE ran a targeted operation to arrest the father, whom she called an illegal alien, not the child.
McLaughlin claimed the father ran off on foot and abandoned his son. An officer stayed with Liam for his safety whilst others caught his father, she said. ICE asks parents whether they want removal with their children or whether agents should place kids with someone safe the parent names, she added.
Liam’s teacher sent a statement through the district expressing shock. He’s bright, kind and loving, the teacher said. His classmates miss him. He walks into class every day and brightens the room. I just want him back here and safe.
The damage will spread, Prokosch warned. Once Liam’s classmates learn the government took him, the trauma hits everyone—not just his family but the whole community and all those kids now facing secondary trauma.
Three other Columbia Heights children were also detained recently. On Tuesday, the same day as Liam’s arrest, armed and masked agents took a 17-year-old student from their car without parents there.
On 14 January, agents forced their way into an apartment and seized a 17-year-old girl and her mother.
On 6 January, agents took a 10-year-old girl and her mother on the way to elementary school. The girl rang her father during the arrest saying agents would drop her at school. When he arrived, both his wife and daughter were gone. By day’s end, they were in a Texas detention centre.
Wednesday afternoon, as officials prepared their press conference, an ICE vehicle rolled onto the high school grounds. Administrators ordered them off.
ICE agents are roaming our neighbourhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, driving into our car parks and taking our kids, Stenvik said.
Homeland Security ignored questions about the other arrests and the high school incident.
The arrests and ICE’s looming presence have devastated everyone, Stenvik said after the press conference. Our children are traumatised. The sense of safety around our schools is shattered. Our hearts are broken. After our fourth student got taken yesterday, I thought someone has to hear this story. They’re taking children.
Some families now stay home fearing ICE, school officials said.
School leaders are scrambling to help families navigate the legal system, Stenvik said. “We’re supposed to educate children during the school day. Our priority is keeping children safe. They’re children, not violent criminals. They’re little kids.”
(information from The Guardian)
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