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.