A five-year-old boy in Minnesota was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday as he returned home from school and was transported with his father to a detention centre in Texas, according to school officials.
Liam Ramos, a preschooler, and his father were taken into custody in their driveway in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb. The school district superintendent, Zena Stenvik, said an agent used Liam as bait, making him knock on the front door to see if anyone else was home. Another adult in the home pleaded to care for the boy but was denied.
The family has an active asylum case and entered the US at an official port of entry, according to their attorney, Marc Prokosch. He said there was no deportation order against them, and they are not criminals. The Department of Homeland Security claimed the father was an 'illegal alien' who fled on foot, abandoning his child, but ICE officers stayed with the boy.
Liam's teacher described him as a bright, kind, and loving student who brightens the classroom. The superintendent questioned why a five-year-old would be detained, saying he cannot be classified as a violent criminal. The attorney warned of secondary trauma for the community and classmates.
This is one of four cases in the district during a Trump administration enforcement surge. Other cases include a 17-year-old taken from a car by armed agents, a 17-year-old girl and her mother detained after agents pushed into an apartment, and a 10-year-old girl taken on her way to school. Liam and his father have since been released from detention, according to updates.
