The Trump administration pushed back on criticism over the detention of a 5-year-old boy by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota, contending that the child was abandoned.
The case of Liam Ramos sparked controversy earlier this week when he arrived home from preschool with his father to find ICE meeting them as they pulled into the driveway. Both Liam and his father were detained during the incident and sent to a Texas detention center for illegal immigrants, with the school the child attended reporting that ICE declined to allow the child to stay with another adult living at the residence. The other adult was outside at the time and “begged” the government to let him stay. The family, now living in Minneapolis, also had an “active asylum case” with no deportation orders, according to the Columbia Heights Public School District.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, disputed aspects of Superintendent Zena Stenvik’s account on Friday, stating that Liam’s apparent mother, who was inside the house, “refused” to take custody of the child. Critics have suggested that ICE was using Liam “as bait” to get the rest of the family inside the home to open the door, allowing the government to detain them. However, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said ICE promised not to arrest the mother. McLaughlin said Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, requested to take his son with him to the detention center.
“Our officers’ primary concern during the entire operation was the safety and welfare of the child. Following the mother’s abandonment of the child, officers abided by the father’s wishes to keep the child with him and even got the child McDonald’s and played his favorite music. Father and son are together at Dilley [Detention Center in Texas],” she said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“Our officers made multiple attempts to get the alleged mother who was inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her she would NOT be taken her into custody. The alleged mother refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him. During this situation, agitators swarmed the scene and began yelling and blowing horns, scaring the child,” McLaughlin added.
Top ICE official Marcos Charles said during a press conference on Friday that his officers “spent hours” ensuring Liam was taken care of.
“My officers stayed with the child. They cared for him, took him to get something to eat from a drive-thru restaurant,” he said. “Again, my officers did that, not his father. My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family. Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door.”
The lawyer representing Liam’s family, Marc Prokosch, told reporters Thursday the child and his father arrived from Ecuador at a port of entry at the U.S. border and made an asylum claim under the Biden administration. Prokosch said ICE had ignored their pending case.
“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?” the attorney said.
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The development comes as Minnesota has become embroiled in protests against ICE following the death of Renee Good. Differing takes on video footage depicting her deadly encounter with federal agents on Jan. 7 have the Trump administration saying an ICE officer was justified in shooting her after she struck him with her SUV, and others arguing that agents handled the situation very poorly.
Organized demonstrations marking her life and protesting ICE’s presence in the state are taking place primarily in Minneapolis and St. Paul on Friday.
