A 5-year-old boy was taken with his father from their driveway by ICE agents in Columbia Heights, Minnesota on Tuesday. School officials say the child was used as bait to knock on the door and ask to be let in, letting officers see if anyone else was home.
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A 5-year-old boy was taken with his father from their driveway by ICE agents in Columbia Heights, Minnesota on Tuesday. School officials say the child was used as bait to knock on the door and ask to be let in, letting officers see if anyone else was home.
The Department of Homeland Security later said that the child was not targeted by ICE, but was “abandoned” by his father. It said his father fled federal agents as they approached his vehicle, leaving the child. DHS said the father, whom they described as an illegal alien from Ecuador, was later taken into custody as other ICE officers stayed with the child.
An attorney for the Ramos family, Marc Prokosch, and the school district denied that Liam was abandoned by his father. Prokosch said Liam and his father entered the U.S. legally from Ecuador and Liam’s father doesn’t appear to have a criminal record.
“How can you justify incarcerating a child because of a civil violation?” Prokosch said Thursday.