School officials say the 5-year-old was used by ICE as “bait.” DHS says he was abandoned.
The Department of Homeland Security disagrees with Minnesota school district claims ICE used 5-year-old boy as bait before taking the boy and his father into custody on Wednesday.
The Columbia Heights Public School District says 5-year-old Liam Ramos was taken with his father while they were on their way home from his kindergarten class. School officials said the child was being used by the police to knock on the door and ask the police to come in and see if anyone else was home.
As public outrage grew, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said “ICE was not targeting the child,” who was instead abandoned by her father. They said the father ran away from the police when they approached his car, leaving the child behind.
DHS officials suspect the father, who they described as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, was held in custody while other ICE officers stayed with the child.
“For the child’s safety, one of our officers stayed with the child while others arrested (the father),” DHS officials said.
School officials say an adult near the scene offered to take the child, but ICE officers refused.
Later Thursday, McLaughlin went further, calling the framing of the incident as ICE using the child as “an obstacle,” claims previously made by the child’s school district, “a horrible scam.”
“Our police officer has tried several times to find the mother who is suspected to be inside the house to keep her child. The police even assured her that she will NOT be taken into custody. The mother who is suspected to have refused to accept the child. The father told the police that he wants the child to stay with him,” said McLaughlin. “Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or if ICE will place the children with a safe person of the parent’s choosing. This is consistent with previous immigration laws.”
A lawyer for the Ramos family said they entered the US through the 2024 port of entry using the CPB program and applied for asylum.
“Every step of their immigration process they were doing what they were asked to do,” said Marc Prokosch, the family’s attorney, about the family’s asylum application. “This is just cruel.”
The Ecuadorian government said its embassy in Minneapolis contacted ICE as soon as it learned of Liam’s arrest, adding that it is “monitoring the child’s condition to protect his safety and well-being.”
Ella Sullivan, Liam’s teacher, described him as “kind and loving.”
“His classmates miss him,” he said. “And all I want is for him to be safe and come back here.”
Columbia Heights officials say Ramos and his family are not alone. The district says three other students were taken by police, including a 17-year-old boy who was reportedly taken from his car to school, and a 10-year-old elementary school student who was taken from his mother two weeks ago.
The county says both the child and his parents, as well as Liam Ramos and his father, are now being held at a facility in Texas.
Minnesota has become increasingly focused on immigration sweeps through agencies led by DHS. Greg Bovino, US Customs and Border Protection officer who had been facing battles in Minneapolis and other citiessays 3,000 of “some of the most dangerous criminals” have been arrested in Minnesota in the past six weeks.
Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said advocates did there is no way to know if the government’s arrest numbers and descriptions of the people incarcerated are accurate.
