ICE officers in Minnesota detained a five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, after allegedly using him to help apprehend his father, who has a pending asylum case.
The child was taken from a running car in his family’s driveway after returning home from preschool, according to Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik.
Officers reportedly instructed the boy to knock on his front door to check if anyone else was inside, which Stenvik described as using a child “as bait.” The family arrived in the United States in 2024 and has an active asylum case, with no order for removal.
The Department of Homeland Security denied targeting the child, stating ICE was focused on arresting the father and kept the child with an officer for safety. Liam and his father were later transferred to an immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas, where advocates report worsening conditions for detained children. The incident comes amid a surge in immigration arrests across Minnesota, drawing criticism from school officials, lawyers, and immigrant rights advocates.
Liam Ramos, five, detained by ICE in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, outside his home on 20 January 2026.
Photograph: Courtesy of Columbia Heights Public Schools
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