US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained a five-year-old boy right in his driveway this week, transporting him and his father hundreds of miles away to a Texas detention center, as reported by The Guardian. School officials in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, confirmed that Liam Ramos, a preschooler who had recently turned five, was taken into custody with his father immediately after returning home from school.
The detention happened while the father’s car was still running, according to Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of the school district, who drove to the home when she learned of the situation. She stated that the agents allegedly used the young child as “bait” to check if other adults were inside the home. An agent took Liam out of the car, led him to the front door, and directed him to knock and ask to be let in. Superintendent Stenvik didn’t mince words, calling the action “essentially using a five-year-old as bait.”
Making the situation even more frustrating, the family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, confirmed the family has an active asylum case and had arrived in the US at an official port of entry. Prokosch stressed that they followed the established rules. “They did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,” he stated. “They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.” The attorney also noted there was no order of deportation against the father or son.
The continuous presence of agents is absolutely terrifying the community
Superintendent Stenvik voiced the community’s absolute shock and heartbreak over the detention. “Why detain a five-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” she asked. Liam’s teacher provided a statement expressing similar grief, saying Liam is a “bright young student. He is so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him. He comes into class every day and just brightens the room. All I want is for him to be back here and safe.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offered a bizarre counter-narrative. Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary, said ICE was only conducting a “targeted operation” to arrest Liam’s father, whom she described as an “illegal alien.” She insisted that “ICE did NOT target a child.” McLaughlin then made the truly strange allegation that the father “fled on foot – abandoning his child,” forcing an officer to remain with Liam for safety.
This explanation just doesn’t sit right, especially since school officials were on the scene shortly after the detention occurred. McLaughlin added that parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or if ICE should place the children with a designated safe person.
Unfortunately, this incident isn’t isolated. It’s part of an enforcement surge by the federal government in the region during President Trump’s administration. Liam is one of four children from the Columbia Heights school district detained by federal agents in just the last two weeks. On the same day Liam was taken, a 17-year-old student was removed from their car by “armed and masked agents” without parents present.
Stenvik reported that ICE vehicles have been “roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our kids.” Attorney Prokosch warned that the government taking a child away creates “secondary trauma” that affects not just the family but the entire community and all of the students. Stenvik confirmed that children are traumatized and the community’s sense of safety is shaken, noting that some families are choosing to stay home out of fear.
“Our main priority is to keep children safe,” Stenvik concluded. “They’re children. They are not violent criminals. They are little kids.”
Published: Jan 22, 2026 11:30 am