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A 5-year-old boy returning home from preschool in Minnesota was taken by federal agents along with his father and sent to a detention facility in Texas, according to school officials and the family’s lawyer. The incident marks the fourth case in recent weeks involving a student from the Minneapolis suburb being detained by immigration authorities.

Federal agents removed Liam Conejo Ramos from a running car in his family’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik told reporters. She said officers instructed the child to knock on the front door to check whether anyone else was inside the home, describing the move as “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait.”

School Officials Raise Alarms Over Child’s Detention

Stenvik said the boy’s father told the child’s mother, who was inside the home and has not been identified, not to open the door. The family arrived in the United States in 2024 and has an active asylum case, with no order to leave the country, she said, citing an Associated Press report.

“Why detain a 5-year-old?” Stenvik asked. “You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”

The Department of Homeland Security pushed back against that characterisation. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement “did NOT target a child,” explaining that agents were attempting to arrest the boy’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who she said is from Ecuador and in the U.S. illegally.

Vance Defends Enforcement

McLaughlin said Conejo Arias fled on foot, “abandoning his child,” prompting an ICE officer to remain with the boy while others apprehended the father. She added that parents are given the option to be removed with their children or to place them with someone of their choosing.

Minnesota has become a focal point of federal immigration enforcement. Greg Bovino, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official, said officers have made about 3,000 arrests in the state over the past six weeks.

Stenvik disputed the account that the father ran, saying another adult who lives at the home was present but agents refused to leave Liam with that person. DHS did not immediately respond to questions about whether Conejo Arias requested that his son remain with him.

Vice President JD Vance addressed the incident during a meeting with Minneapolis leaders, calling it a “terrible story” before noting he later learned the child was detained, not arrested. “What are they supposed to do?” Vance said. “Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?” He added that he is the parent of a 5-year-old.

Vance was not asked why immigration officers allegedly declined to leave the child with another adult who lived at the home and offered to care for him.