After a school board member in a Minneapolis suburb watched a 5-year-old and his father get detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tuesday, ICE has shared a narrative of what led up to the scene in front of the child’s home.
The board member from the Columbia Heights Public School District said they witnessed ICE take Liam Ramos away even after people pressed them to let the child stay with other adults or be taken back to school. ICE officials said they spent hours with the boy before trying unsuccessfully to reunite him with other family.
ICE Executive Acting Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Marcos Charles said in a Friday announcement that Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, the father of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, is an “illegal alien” who was allowed “back into” the U.S. by the “previous administration,” under former President Joe Biden. Charles said that ICE agents approached Arias while he was in a vehicle with his son and that Arias fled the vehicle, “abandoning his child.”
“One of our officers stayed behind with that child while other officers apprehended his father. After conducting the arrest, my officers stayed with the child,” Charles continued. “They cared for him, took him to get something to eat from a drive-thru restaurant and spent hours ensuring he was taken care of. Again, my officers did that, not his father.”
He also said that the ICE agents tried to reunite Ramos with his family. However, Charles said that “tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door.”
The Department of Homeland Security shared the same narrative in an X post that said ICE did not “target a child” for detention. It also said that “parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.”
“This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement,” the DHS added. “Parents can take control of their departure and receive a free flight and $2,600 with the CBP Home app. By using the CBP Home app illegal aliens reserve the chance to come back the right legal way.”
Mary Granlund, a member of the Columbia Heights Public School District Board, said during a press conference this week that she was on her way to one of the district schools when she saw the commotion with ICE and Ramos’ family. She said another adult at the home was telling the agents they could take the child and that she even offered to bring him to school herself.
A press release from the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights claimed that ICE agents “removed Liam from the still‑running car and directed him to knock on his own front door – using him as bait to draw out other family members during the arrest,” at the scene.
“There was ample opportunity to be able to safely hand that child off to adults,” Garnlund said. When asked if she believed that ICE was using the children as bait, she said “yes.”
Marc Prokosch, an attorney representing the family said during that same press conference that the father and son are from Ecuador and that they arrived in the U.S. in 2024 at a port of entry to seek asylum. He said “they did everything right when they came in,” and that they were following the correct process for living in the U.S.
“These are not illegal aliens,” said Prokosch. He also said there is no evidence of any legal issues related to the family in the records from Minnesota he has searched thus far.
Columbia Heights Public School District Superintendent Zena Stenvik also came to the child’s home Tuesday.
“The young boy, Liam, and his father, who were taken yesterday, have the documentation,” she said during the press conference. “I saw it with my own eyes.”
Since President Donald Trump took office last January, his administration's crackdown on illegal immigration has faced criticism for sending immigrants who allegedly believed they were legally here out of the country. Some examples include the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation and an Illinois police officer who was arrested by ICE even after submitting a Work Authorization Card issued by the federal government’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, per the city of Hanover Park. There’s also been controversy this month about an apparent ICE policy to enter homes without a warrant that could be unconstitutional.
Trump’s administration has argued that the crackdown is helping identify and expel criminals from the U.S. At the same time, ICE deployments in major cities have been met with resistance from local lawmakers, leaders, law enforcement agencies and communities.
Earlier this month, the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis further increased tension over ICE actions. Prokosch said the tactics ICE is using are “terrorizing” the community of Columbia Heights and “horrifying” its residents.
Stenvik said that three other students – minors – from her district have been apprehended by ICE. She said that ICE agents have been “roaming” the town’s neighborhoods, following school busses and entering parking lots. In one instance, students saw the ICE agents and recorded them on their phones, the school officials said.
According to Stenvik, the ICE operations have changed the atmosphere in the community and are “inducing trauma and taking a toll on our children.”
“This family did every single thing they’ve been asked to in order to seek asylum here,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in a Facebook post. “Yet in less than 24 hours, this kid and his Dad were nabbed off our streets and sent to Texas, using tactics that can only be described as pure evil.”
Vice President JD Vance defended the ICE actions during a visit to Minnesota this week. In a Thursday X post, Smith asked him: “What made the child a threat JD? Was it the floppy ears or the Spider Man backpack?”
Prokosch said Smith confirmed that the father and son were taken to the Dilley Detention Center in Texas. He said that it is a site known for images of children kept in cages.
“Law enforcement operations – they must prioritize public safety and respect for civil rights,” said the attorney. “This rapid buildup of enforcement… it has clearly sacrificed proper training and there are diminished standards for the work being done.”
At the time of the press conference, Prokosch said that he had not been in direct contact with Arias or the child, though he did say people were planning to travel to Texas to see them. Prokosch said he believes the father and son are being held together but that he could not confirm.
He said that his team is “hopeful,” that the father and son will be able to return home. Stenvik said that she is requesting a “diplomatic and peaceful,” resolution to the situation.