The child, Liam Conejo Ramos, was taken from a running car in the family’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon, according to Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have detained a five-year-old boy arriving home from preschool in Minnesota, reportedly using him “as bait” to arrest his father, who has a pending asylum case.
The child, Liam Conejo Ramos, was taken from a running car in the family’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon, according to Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik.
Officers allegedly instructed Liam to knock on the door to his home to see if anyone else was inside, “essentially using a five-year-old as bait,” she said.
The family, who arrived in the United States in 2024, has an active asylum case and had not been ordered to leave the country. “Why detain a five-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” Stenvik said.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said ICE “did NOT target a child” and was conducting an operation to arrest Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, from Ecuador.
She added that an ICE officer stayed with the child during the arrest and that parents can choose to be removed with their children or have them placed with a guardian.
Liam is the fourth student from Columbia Heights Public Schools detained by ICE in recent weeks, including a 10-year-old and two 17-year-olds.
The family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said Liam and his father were taken to an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas, likely in a family holding cell. “We’re exploring legal and moral options to secure their release,” he said.
Leecia Welch, chief legal counsel at the advocacy group Children’s Rights, who recently visited Dilley as part of a lawsuit on child welfare in federal custody, described worsening conditions.
She said large numbers of children had been detained for over 100 days, with widespread illness and reports of malnutrition and severe suffering.
During a Minneapolis visit, US Vice President JD Vance commented on Liam’s case, describing it as a “terrible story” but questioned what federal agents could have done differently.
“Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States?” he said.
Recent ICE operations have led to the arrest of around 3,000 people in Minnesota, though advocates like Julia Decker of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota warn that the government’s reporting on arrests and detainees may not be fully transparent.
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