A five‑year‑old boy’s detention by federal agents shocks a Minnesota community

U.S. immigration authorities detained at least four children including a five-year-old from a Minneapolis-area school district this month as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, school district and city officials said on Thursday (January 22).

The Republican administration has deployed about 3,000 officers around Minnesota's largest city, where residents have been on edge since an immigration officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen this month. Democrats and local leaders have accused federal agents of aggressive and unnecessary tactics that have left many immigrant communities afraid.

The child, Liam Conejo Ramos, aged 5, watched as masked agents took his father from the driveway of their home after the two returned from preschool on Tuesday, according to Rachel James, a Columbia Heights city council member who saw several vehicles blocking half the road near the home.

The agents then took the boy, wearing a blue hat and a Spider-Man backpack, and pointed to the back door of the house and motioned for him to knock, she said.

"I can't imagine what was going through Liam's mind, but I can tell you what I saw on his face. He was frozen and paralyzed," James told Reuters on Thursday. "He was not crying, but he looked so scared."

The Department of Homeland Security said that Liam's father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, was in the country illegally but did not provide details or mention any criminal history.

Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said parents targeted in ICE operations are asked if they want their children taken with them or have them placed with a person designated by the parents.

"ICE did NOT target a child," she said, adding that Conejo Arias fled the scene as agents approached, leaving his child behind.

Neighbors in the community north of Minneapolis gathered around and offered to take the boy, including one who said they were part of the family, James said. But the agents put the child in the back seat of a black SUV and sped away, she said.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the city after weeks of outcry that followed the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good, 37, a U.S. citizen and mother of three.

Zena Stenvik, the Columbia Heights Public Schools district superintendent said another minor, a 17-year-old high school student, was taken on Tuesday by armed and masked agents while on the way to school. No parents were present, she said.

Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old was taken by ICE agents on her way to elementary school and she and her mother are still in a Texas detention center, Stenvik said. Last week, a 17-year-old high school student was detained with her mother by ICE agents at their apartment, she said.

The identity of the child was verified by comparing his facial features with other file images. The date when the photos were taken was verified by the metadata on the original image files. The garage door, road layout, building facade and fencing matched file and satellite imagery, as well as a corroborating visual, of the area. School district officials said on Wednesday (January 21) that a five-year-old was one of four children detained this month. A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said that ICE agents attempted to apprehend the father of the child on Tuesday (January 20).


(2026 Thomson Reuters)