A 5-year-old boy arriving home from preschool in Minnesota was taken by federal agents along with his father to a detention facility in Texas, school officials and the family’s lawyer said, making him the latest child caught up in the immigration enforcement surge that has riled the Twin Cities in recent weeks.
Federal agents took Liam Conejo Ramos from a running car while it was in the family’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said during a news conference Wednesday. The officers then told him to knock on the door to his suburban Minneapolis home to see if other people were inside, 'essentially using a 5-year-old as bait,' she said.
Stenvik mentioned that the family has an active asylum case and has not been ordered to leave the country. 'Why detain a 5-year-old?' she asked. 'You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.'
However, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, clarified that ICE did not target the child. She stated that the operation was aimed at arresting Liam's father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who is believed to be in the U.S. illegally after fleeing Ecuador. 'For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias,' McLaughlin said.
Stenvik said another adult was outside during the incident, but agents refused to leave Liam with that individual. As of now, Liam and his father were being held in a family holding cell in Texas. The family's lawyer, Marc Prokosch, expressed his concern, stating, 'Every step of their immigration process has been doing what they’ve been asked to do. So this is just cruelty.'
In recent weeks, Minnesota has seen increased immigration sweeps, with reports citing that 3,000 'of some of the most dangerous offenders' have been arrested in the state. Advocates are worried that the government’s statistics may not represent the reality of those detained.
The incident with Liam comes as the fourth detainment of a student from the Columbia Heights Public Schools in recent weeks, further alarming the community, which largely consists of immigrant families. The school officials noted a significant drop in attendance as fear gripped the students' households.
Liam's teacher, Ella Sullivan, described him as 'kind and loving,' expressing the sentiment shared by classmates who miss him, 'All I want is for him to be safe and back here.'
