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A five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, was reportedly used as bait by federal agents during an immigration incident outside his Minnesota preschool. His father, an asylum seeker, was detained with him. While ICE claims the father fled, school officials and community members condemn the tactics, fearing for immigrant families and leading to decreased school attendance.
Who is Liam Conejo Ramos? That’s the question many in Minnesota are now asking after a deeply unsettling incident involving a five-year-old boy and federal immigration agents.It started like any normal afternoon.Liam had just stepped out of his preschool in Columbia Heights, a quiet suburb near Minneapolis. His father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, was waiting in the car. Within moments, federal agents pulled up to their driveway, and everything changed.According to school officials, agents took hold of Liam as he got out of the car and walked him straight to the front door of his home. They told the child to knock and check if anyone else was inside.To many watching, it felt like something out of a bad movie. The school superintendent later said it bluntly: they were using a five-year-old as bait.Liam’s mother, who was inside the house, refused to open the door after her husband warned her what was happening. A school staff member offered to take Liam instead. A neighbour even stepped forward with paperwork, willing to help. But the agents said no.Soon after, Liam and his father were taken to the South Texas Residential Center in Dilley, a family detention facility.
Adrian Conejo Arias is originally from Ecuador and had sought asylum at the US border in December 2024. He has no criminal record in Minnesota and no deportation order against him. His asylum case is still active.Their lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said he has not been able to speak directly with them yet. He insists there is no legal reason for them to remain detained and says he is now pushing for their release through the courts, and through public pressure.
ICE, however, tells a different story.A spokesperson said agents did not target the child and claimed the father ran away, leaving Liam behind. According to ICE, an officer stayed with the boy for safety until the father was caught. They also said parents are given options: either take their children with them or arrange for a sponsor.But many in the community aren’t buying that version.School leaders say the situation could have been handled very differently - without involving a young child at all.And this wasn’t an isolated case.Columbia Heights schools serve around 3,400 students, most from immigrant families. In just the past few weeks, this is the fourth time a student or minor has been detained. One was a 17-year-old stopped on the way to school. Two others were aged 10 and 17.The fear has spread fast.On one recent school day, attendance dropped by nearly a third. Teachers say parents are keeping children home because they’re scared ICE might show up near buses, parking lots, or school entrances.Liam’s teacher described him as gentle and kind. His classmates keep asking when he’ll come back.Meanwhile, concerns are growing about where Liam is being held.Lawyers from the Children’s Rights group recently visited the Dilley detention centre and painted a grim picture. They say many children there look underfed, sick, and exhausted. Some have been locked up for more than 100 days. Almost all, they said, appeared ill.In December alone, around 400 children were being held long-term in similar facilities.
At the same time, immigration enforcement in Minnesota has intensified. Federal officials say nearly 3,000 arrests were made in the state in just six weeks.Vice President JD Vance met Minneapolis leaders recently and acknowledged the case. He said detentions are sometimes necessary to enforce immigration law and mentioned his own five-year-old while defending the system.
But he did not address why agents refused help from adults who offered to take Liam safely.Local leaders are openly upset.The school superintendent has questioned how a child could ever be seen as a threat. Community members say these tactics are traumatising families and tearing apart neighbourhoods.ICE maintains that their operations focus on adults and that safety is their priority.But for many, this case has become a symbol of something much bigger.A small boy taken from his driveway. A school community shaken. Parents now afraid to send their children to class.And one simple question hanging in the air:How did a five-year-old end up in the middle of an immigration raid?
English (US) ·