Minnesota. A 5-year-old child was taken into custody along with his father by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the US state of Minnesota. The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon, when the child was returning home from preschool. Agents caught both of them from the moving car. Agents asked the child to knock on the door of the house to find out if anyone else was in the house. The school described it as using the child as bait. This family came to America in 2024 and they are facing an asylum case, there was no deportation order. Father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias is from Ecuador. The child’s name is Liam Conejo Ramos who is a student of Columbia Heights Public Schools.
School authorities have strongly condemned this act, calling it unethical. Liam and his father are currently being held in an immigration lockup in Dilley, Texas. This family came to America in the year 2024 and currently their asylum case is pending in the court. Legal experts say that there was no deportation order against him, yet this action was taken. Although neighbors and school staff had offered to keep the child under their care, they were also rejected by the authorities. There is an atmosphere of fear in the entire area after this incident. This is the fourth case of detention of a student in the Columbia Heights district in the past few weeks. Earlier, two 17-year-old and one 10-year-old student had also been arrested. The increasing strictness in Minnesota can be gauged from the fact that about 3,000 arrests have been made here in the last six weeks.
The situation of panic is such that the attendance of students in schools has fallen by one-third. According to the school management, mental trauma is being seen in children due to agents roaming behind buses and in residential areas. Liam’s teacher has expressed deep sorrow over the incident, describing him as an extremely friendly and loving child. On the other hand, the Department of Homeland Security clarified that their main goal was the arrest of the father and an officer was deployed for the child’s safety. Vice President JD Vance has also commented, but did not provide a clear response to the serious allegations made by the school. The family’s attorney, Mark Prokosh, is now preparing for a legal battle in the matter.