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US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a five-year-old Minnesota boy on Tuesday as he returned home from school and transported him and his father to a Texas detention center, according to school officials.<\/p>\n
Liam Ramos, a preschooler, and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway, the superintendent of the school district in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, said at a press conference on Wednesday. Liam, who had recently turned five, is one of four children in the school district who have been detained by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration\u2019s enforcement surge in the region over the last two weeks, the district said.<\/p>\n
Liam and his father had just arrived home when they were detained, according to Zena Stenvik, the superintendent, who said she drove to the home when she learned of the detentions.<\/p>\n
When she arrived, Stenvik said the father\u2019s car was still running and the father and son had already been apprehended. An agent had taken Liam out of the car, led the boy to his front door and directed him to knock on the door asking to be let in, \u201cin order to see if anyone else was home \u2013 essentially using a five-year-old as bait\u201d, the superintendent said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Stenvik said another adult living in the home was outside during the encounter and had pleaded to take care of Liam so the boy could avoid detention, but was denied. Liam\u2019s older brother, a middle schooler, came home 20 minutes later to find his father and brother missing, Stenvik said. Two school principals from the district also arrived at the home to offer support.<\/p>\n
Marc Prokosch, an attorney representing the family, said the family has an active asylum case and shared paperwork showing the father and son had arrived to the US at a port of entry, meaning an official crossing point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,\u201d he said. \u201cThey did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.\u201d He said there was no order of deportation against them and he believes the father and son have remained together in detention.<\/p>\n
Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to inquiries on Wednesday evening about the boy\u2019s detention.<\/p>\n
School officials released two photos of the encounter, one showing Liam, in a blue knit hat, outside his front door with a masked agent by his side, and another showing Liam standing by a car with a man holding onto his backpack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy detain a five-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,\u201d Stenvik said.<\/p>\n
The school district provided a statement from Liam\u2019s teacher, who expressed shock over the boy\u2019s detention: \u201cLiam is a bright young student. He is so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him. He comes into class every day and just brightens the room. All I want is for him to be back here and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detention of a young child will have ripple effects, said Prokosch. \u201cOnce his classmates learn the government took him away \u2026 I\u2019m not qualified to talk about how much damage that is going to cause. It\u2019s not just the family, it\u2019s the entire community and all of those kids who are now going to be facing secondary trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also on Tuesday, a 17-year-old Columbia Heights student was taken by \u201carmed and masked agents\u201d without parents present, Stenvik said. That student was removed from their car, she said.<\/p>\n
In another case on 14 January, ICE agents \u201cpushed their way into an apartment\u201d and detained a 17-year-old high school girl and her mother, Stenvik said.<\/p>\n
And in a fourth case, on 6 January, a 10-year-old fourth grade student was allegedly taken by ICE on her way to elementary school with her mother. The superintendent said the 10-year-old called her father during the arrests and said that ICE agents would bring her to school, but when the father arrived at the school, he discovered both his daughter and wife had been taken. By the end of that school day, the mother and daughter were in a detention center in Texas.<\/p>\n
Stenvik reported that as school officials were preparing for the press conference on Wednesday afternoon, an ICE vehicle drove onto the property of the district\u2019s high school and were told by administrators to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our kids,\u201d Stenvik said.<\/p>\n
Related: <\/span>Pregnant woman in medical distress deported from US, says attorney<\/p>\n DHS did not respond to inquiries about the other arrests and the report of ICE\u2019s arrival on campus.<\/p>\n In an interview after the press conference, the superintendent said the arrests and looming presence of ICE had taken an enormous toll on students, parents and school staff.<\/p>\n \u201cOur children are traumatized. The sense of safety in our community and around our schools is shaken,\u201d Stenvik said. \u201cI can speak on behalf of all school staff when I say our hearts are shattered. After our fourth student was taken yesterday, I just thought someone has to hear the story. They\u2019re taking children.\u201d<\/p>\n School officials said some families were choosing to stay home out of fear of ICE.<\/p>\n Stenvik said school leaders were working to aid families impacted by ICE. \u201cOur role is to educate children during the school day. But now we\u2019re trying to help people navigate this legal system.\u201d She added: \u201cOur main priority is to keep children safe. They\u2019re children. They are not violent criminals. They are little kids.\u201d<\/p>\n