ICE detains 5-year-old Minnesota boy, allegedly using him as ‘bait’ to find immigrants

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Federal immigration agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a 5-year-old Minnesota boy, identified as Liam Ramos, and his father late Tuesday afternoon as they returned home from the child’s elementary school, according to school officials and local leaders.

The 5-year-old boy, who attends a district elementary school, was used as ‘bait’ to draw family members out of their home, according to the family’s lawyer and close friends. 

5 year old detained to lure his family

The incident unfolded in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, where masked agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended the family in their driveway shortly after the father dropped Liam off from preschool on January 20. Family members told KARE-TV that they did not know where the two were for “nearly 24 hours.”

A subsequent report by KARE said the family’s lawyer stated that the child is being held “potentially with his father at a detention facility in Texas.”

“Why detain a 5-year-old? You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” Zena Stenvik, the Columbia Heights superintendent, told reporters Wednesday.

According to Stenvik, masked agents apprehended 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos in his driveway on Tuesday as he returned home from school with his father.

“Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let him take care of the small child, and was refused,” Stenvik said.

“Instead,” she said, “the agent took the child out of the still-running car, led him to the door and directed him to knock on the door asking to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home, essentially using a 5-year-old as bait.”

Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the Ramos family, said he is still not sure of the exact current whereabouts of Liam and his father.

Teacher, lawyer speak out after 5-year-old detained in ICE operation

Liam’s teacher, Ella Sullivan, said, “He’s a bright young student, and he’s so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him, and all I want is for him to be safe and back here.”

When asked whether the 5-year-old’s detainment was illegal, the family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said, “Probably not, and that’s what’s going to make my job really difficult. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s moral. You know, yes, they may have the legal authority to detain a 5-year-old, but why?”

According to Columbia Heights district officials, three other students, all under the age of 18, have been detained by federal agents in recent weeks.

Zena Stenvik said nearly a third of students in her district have stayed home in recent weeks out of fear. “Imagine the trauma of a child being picked up by masked and armed agents, seeing their parents in handcuffs and being used to attempt to lure their mother out of the house and into danger. What has become of our country?”