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THE IMAGE ABOVE shows a five-year-old boy being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers outside his home in Minnesota after returning from school with his father.
The child, identified as Liam Ramos, a preschool student in the Columbia Heights Public Schools district near Minneapolis, was taken into custody on Tuesday during an immigration enforcement operation, according to school officials and the family’s lawyer.
Liam and his father were detained in their driveway shortly after arriving home from school. Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, said she went to the family’s home after learning of the arrest and found the father and son already in custody, with the car still running.
Stenvik told local news outlets that an ICE agent removed the child from the vehicle and led him to the front door of the house, instructing him to knock to see if anyone else was inside, describing the action as “essentially using a five-year-old as bait”.
Another adult living at the home pleaded with officers to allow the child to remain there rather than be detained, but this request was refused, Stenvik said.
Liam’s older brother arrived home around 20 minutes later to find both his father and younger sibling gone.
Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the family, told local news outlets that the father and son have an active asylum case and entered the United States through an official port of entry.
Prokosch said there is no deportation order against them and believes they are being held together at a detention centre in Texas.
“The family did everything they were supposed to do in accordance with the rules as they exist,” Prokosch said.
They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.
In a statement, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said ICE “did NOT target a child”, describing the detention as part of a “targeted operation” aimed at the boy’s father, whom she referred to as an “illegal alien”.
McLaughlin claimed the father fled on foot when approached by agents, “abandoning his child”, and said an ICE officer remained with the boy for his safety while the father was apprehended.
She added that parents are given the option of being removed with their children or having their children placed with a designated safe person.
School officials dispute this account, saying an adult present at the home had asked to care for the child but was denied.
The Columbia Heights school district said Liam is one of four students detained by federal immigration agents in the area over the past two weeks.
In separate incidents, a 10-year-old child and her mother were detained while travelling to school, and two 17-year-old students were also taken into custody, one allegedly by masked and armed agents.
Stenvik said ICE vehicles have been seen near schools and school buses in the district, contributing to widespread fear among students and families.
The enforcement activity forms part of a wider immigration crackdown in Minnesota, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, which has sparked protests across the state.
Minnesota Governer and Democrat Tim Walz slammed the detention of Liam Ramos in a statement on social media, stating that the “campaign of retribution has got to stop.”
Minnesotans want safety. They want freedom. They want what’s best for our kids.
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) January 22, 2026
Masked agents snatching preschoolers off the street and sending them to Texas detention centers serves none of those purposes.
This campaign of retribution has got to stop.https://t.co/DYXvNF0SKa
“Masked agents snatching preschoolers off the street and sending them to Texas detention centers serves none of those purposes,” Walz added.
The detentions come amid an intensified federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has triggered protests, school walkouts and clashes between demonstrators and federal agents.
Tensions have flared in the state over a wave of arrests and the killing of protester Renee Good, 37, by an ICE agent. The Trump administration has labelled the incident as “self-defence”.
US Vice President JD Vance was in Minnesota today, where he blamed local Democratic leaders for the chaotic rollout of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the state.
Speaking alongside ICE officers and vehicles, Vance warned protesters against confronting law enforcement.
“Yes, protest. Protest me. Protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully,” Vancesaid.
“If you assault a law enforcement officer the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you.”
Vance accused officials in Minneapolis, a sanctuary city, of hindering ICE operations.
“The lack of cooperation between state and local officials makes it harder for us to do our job and turns up the temperature,” he said.
Vance was also questioned on the detention on Liam Ramos, and he rejected claims that the child had been detained.
“The five-year-old was not arrested. His dad was an illegal alien, and when they went to arrest his father, the father ran,” Vance said.
Minnesota officials are seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the ICE operation, with a federal court hearing scheduled for Monday.
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