ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy as he came home, say school officials

Key Highlights

• Liam, who had recently turned five, is one of four children in the school district who have been detained by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in the region over the last two weeks, the district said. Liam Ramos.
• ourtesy of Columbia Heights Public SchoolsLiam and his father had just arrived home when they were detained, according to Zena Stenvik, the superintendent, who said she drove to the home when she learned of the detentions. When she arrived, Stenvik said the father’s car was still running and the father and son had already been apprehended.
• An agent had taken Liam out of the car, led the boy to his front 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 five-year-old as bait”, the superintendent said in a statement. Stenvik said another adult living in the home was outside during the encounter and had pleaded to take care of Liam so the boy could avoid detention, but was denied.
• Liam’s older brother, a middle schooler, came home 20 minutes later to find his father and brother missing, Stenvik said.
• Two school principals from the district also arrived at the home to offer support. Marc Prokosch, an attorney representing the family, said the family has an active asylum case and shared paperwork showing the father and son had arrived to the US at a port of entry, meaning an official crossing point.“The family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,” he said.