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He was coming home from kindergarten with his father. The photos show what happened next, according to Minnesota school officials.
A five-year-old boy, wearing a blue beanie with floppy ears and a Spider-Man backpack, was reportedly apprehended Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in his Columbia Heights driveway.
Liam Ramos was essentially used “as bait,” Columbia Heights Public Schools (CHPS) Superintendent Zena Stenvik said in a statement Wednesday.
“Another adult living in the house was outside and begged the officers to let them care for the small child, but was refused,” Stenvik said.
“Instead, the officer removed the child from the vehicle that was still running, led him to the door, and ordered him to knock on the door, asking to be let in, in order to see if anyone else was home – essentially using a five-year-old as bait.”
Columbia Heights is a suburb of Minneapolis, where a massive crackdown on immigration saw thousands of officers dispatched to the Twin Cities. It is become a powder keg of protests and attacks since an ICE shooting and killed Renée Good, 37 years oldmother of three children.
Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CBC News in a written statement that ICE did not target Liam Ramos, but was conducting a “targeted operation” to arrest his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, whom she described as an “illegal alien from Ecuador.”
“ICE did NOT target a child,” McLaughlin said.
“As agents approached driver Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, he fled on foot, abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE agents remained with the child while the other agents apprehended Conejo Arias.”
She added that parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, “or ICE will place the children with a safe person designated by the parents.”
The statement did not say what happened to Liam after the arrest or where he is currently. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet responded to CBC’s inquiries.
Liam and his father were being held in a family unit in Texas, the family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, said at a news conference, according to the Associated Press.
“Why detain a 5 year old child?
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz criticized Liam’s alleged detention, writing on Thursday that “this campaign of retaliation must end.”
Minnesotans want safety. They want freedom. They want what is best for our children. Masked agents snatching preschoolers off the street and sending them to Texas detention centers serves no purpose,” he wrote.
Minnesotans want safety. They want freedom. They want what is best for our children.
Masked officers snatching preschoolers off the street and sending them to Texas detention centers serves neither purpose.
This campaign of retaliation must stop.https://t.co/DYXvNF0SKa
The photos of Liam Ramos, provided to CBC News by Columbia Heights Public Schools, were taken by “Known and verified members of the community who were on site,” school officials said.
Twenty minutes after Liam and his father were kidnapped, an eldest son from middle school arrived home “with a missing father, a missing little brother and a terrified mother,” said Stenvik.
“Why detain a five-year-old child? You can’t tell me this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” she said.
In his statement, Stenvik said the family “is within U.S. legal parameters” and has an active asylum case with no deportation order.
“I looked at the legal documents with my own eyes,” she said.
WATCH | ICE keeps up the pressure in Minneapolis:
ICE’s aggressive actions continue in Minneapolis as Democrats warn of a possible congressional investigation into its use of deadly force. Reports now indicate that federal justice officials are targeting the governor of Minnesota and the mayor of Minneapolis for allegedly preventing agents from doing their jobs.
Three other children were also recently detained by ICE, according to school district officials.
Tuesday, a 17-year-old high school student the student was taken by armed and masked agents on their way to school, in the absence of parents, Stenvik said. Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old girl and her mother were arrested on their way to school, she added.
“By the end of the school day, they were already in a detention center in Texas, and they’re still there,” Stenvik said.
She also said that last week, a 17-year-old high school student in the area was arrested.
The Homeland Security statement did not mention any other children. CBC News has requested information about them, but has not yet received a response.
