Officials with the Columbia Heights school district say fear is growing throughout the district as federal immigration agents target students and their families.
Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik says three children were taken by federal immigration agents on Tuesday. Two were on their way to school,
"On the way to school, a 17-year old high school student, a minor, was taken by armed masked agents alone," Stenvik explains. "No parents were present. The student was removed from their car and taken away."
5-year-old Liam Ramos was among those taken with his father while in their driveway Tuesday afternoon after arriving home from his preschool classroom. District officials say Ramos was "used as bait" to knock on the door of his own home to be let in, only for officers to look and see if anyone else was home.
"20 minutes after Liam and his father were taken, the middle school brother came home to a missing dad, a missing little brother, and a terrified mother," adds Stenvik.
Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old student in fourth grade was taken by ICE agents on her way to elementary school with her mother. During the arrest, the child called her father on the phone to tell her that ICE agents were bringing her to school.
Columbia Heights school officials now say four of their students have been taken by ICE officials and they believe they are in Texas detention facilities.