National Civil Rights leaders are in Minnesota demanding change in the aftermath of the latest fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday when Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year old Alex Pretti, just two weeks after other federal agents shot and killed Renee Good.
The League of United Latin American Citizens and the NAACP met in Minneapolis to demand independent investigation into the recent deaths of two U.S. citizens during federal immigration operations.
Leadership from both organizations called for the immediate resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and the freezing of funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"When those engaging in enforcement actions operate without transparency, accountability, or respect for constitutional limits, our democratic fabric frays," explained LULAC President Roman Palomares.
The groups are also advocating for the release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, a Twin Cities resident currently being held in a Texas detention center.
"We are going to be taking actions at the Dealey Center in Texas for his immediate release," says ULAC National President Domingo Garcia. "Children should not be put in concentration camps. That is un-American. It's un-Christian, and it's something we should not be seeing in America in 2026."
The groups are urging federal officials to reunite the child with his family, citing the case as a symbol of the urgent need for transparency and humanity in immigration enforcement.
DHS has repeated allegations that the father of Ramos abandoned him during his arrest by immigration officers in Columbia Heights last week, leading to the child being detained, too.
Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Liam was detained because his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, “fled from the scene.” The two are detained together at the Dilley Detention Center in Texas, which is intended to hold families. McLaughlin said officers tried to get Liam's mother to take him, but she refused to accept custody.
The family’s attorney Marc Prokosch said he thinks the mother refused to open the door to the ICE officers because she was afraid she would be detained. Columbia Heights district superintendent Zena Stenvik said Liam was “used as bait.”
CNN is now reporting Tuesday that a federal judge is blocking the possible deportation of Ramos and his father for now.
Prokosch found nothing in state records to suggest Liam's father has a criminal history.