Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested at least four juveniles from the same school board this month, including a 5-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, school officials in a Minneapolis suburb say.
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These events exacerbate the tension between residents and ICE agents, already high since the death of Renée Good, 37, shot three times by an ICE agent. The Trump administration justifies the presence of ICE by claiming that they arrest immigrants convicted of violent crimes.
“Why arrest a 5 year old? said Zena Stenvik, school board superintendent in Columbia Heights, a northern suburb of Minneapolis, at a news conference, emphasizing the absurdity that “this child is considered a violent criminal.” »
Liam Ramos, 5, and his father were arrested Tuesday afternoon in front of the family’s home on their way home from kindergarten, according to a statement from the Columbia Heights school board.
The father, Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot when ICE agents approached, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
“For the safety of the child, one of our ICE agents remained with him while the other agents apprehended Conejo Arias,” DHS said by email.
According to the school board, ICE agents asked Liam to knock on the door after arresting his father, “using a 5-year-old as bait” to see if anyone else was inside.
Another adult living in the home, who was outside at the time, “begged officers” to let him have the child, the school board said. ICE agents refused.
Liam’s brother, a high school student, came home 20 minutes later to find his little brother and father had been taken away.
Liam and his father are now in San Antonio, Texas, detained by Homeland Security, said the family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch. They are not American citizens, but “have followed the legal procedure to the letter, from their presentation at the border to their request for asylum” and the waiting for the decision, he said.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY COLUMBIA HEIGHTS SCHOOL BOARD
Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and his father were arrested Tuesday afternoon in front of the family’s home on their way home from kindergarten, according to a statement from the Columbia Heights school board.
DHS says Liam was not targeted and that ICE has a policy of asking parents if they want to be deported with their children, otherwise the children are placed in the care of a safe person designated by a parent.
It’s unclear why ICE agents did not release Liam into the custody of the adult who school officials said had begged them to leave him with him.
According to Ella Sullivan, Liam’s teacher in a kindergarten class, Liam was “a bright young student.”
“He is very nice. His presence lights up the class every day,” she said at a press conference.
His classmates haven’t asked me anything about him yet, but I know they will notice.
Ella Sullivan, teacher of Liam Ramos’ kindergarten class
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that “ICE did not target a child.” She added that ICE was conducting an operation to arrest the child’s father, who Ms.me McLaughlin, is originally from Ecuador and is in the United States illegally. He fled on foot, “abandoning his child,” she said.
Three other Columbia Heights students were detained this month by ICE agents, according to school officials.
A 17-year-old student on his way to school was taken from his car Tuesday morning and taken away by armed, masked agents, believed to be ICE agents, according to the press release. “No parents were present,” it is specified.
Last week, “ICE agents raided an apartment and arrested a 17-year-old Columbia Heights High School student and her mother,” the school board says.
A 10 year old child
A week earlier, a 4 year old studente year old 10 year old was arrested by ICE agents along with her mother. “During the arrest, the child called his father to tell him that ICE agents were taking him to school,” the school board alleges. “The father immediately went to the school to find that his daughter and wife had been taken away. » The girl and her mother are in a detention center in Texas, according to school officials.
Mary Granlund, president of the Columbia Heights school board, expressed her exasperation at a meeting this week.
“I have spent the last few weeks trying to make sure our students, staff, families and everyone in our community are safe,” she said.
“I saw the power of community,” she continued. “But at the end of the day, we have whistles and they have guns. »
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