(Minneapolis) American authorities are trying on Friday to calm the wave of indignation caused by the detention of a five-year-old boy by immigration police (ICE) in Minnesota. Opponents plan to demonstrate in large numbers against the anti-migrant operations of its agents.
Published at
Two versions conflict on the circumstances which led to the detention of little Liam Ramos, whom a photo, widely reported by the media and social networks, shows frightened, wearing a blue hat with rabbit ears, carrying a backpack held by a figure dressed in black.
“We were not aiming for the child,” insisted one of the leaders of the immigration police, Marcos Charles, during a press conference on Friday.
US Vice President JD Vance, visiting the state’s largest city, Minneapolis, the day before, said the boy had been picked up by ICE in front of his home on Tuesday after his father, presented as an illegal immigrant, had fled to avoid being apprehended.
Zena Stenvik, head of the school district attended by the child, on the contrary, alleged Wednesday that the boy had been forced to serve as “bait” and knock on the door of his home to encourage people there to come out.
PHOTO RACHEL JAMES, PROVIDED BY REUTERS ARCHIVES
ICE agents stand next to Liam Ramos on January 20, 2026.
Another element of controversy, Mr. Charles says that his men “did everything possible to reunite him with his family” but that they refused to open up to him. Mme Stenvik assures that “another adult living in the house (…) begged the agents to let him look after the young child, but his request was refused”.
“Mistreatment”
The ICE agents “took (Liam Ramos) to eat in a restaurant and spent hours making sure that he lacked nothing,” added Mr. Charles, specifying that the boy and his father had been reunited in a “family residential center while awaiting the outcome of their immigration procedure”, without giving the location.
According to American media, they are in Texas. “My team and I are doing everything we can to locate him, verify that he is safe and demand his release,” said a Democratic elected official from this state, Joaquin Castro, on X Thursday.
PHOTO KAYLEE GREENLEE, REUTERS
Liam Ramos is reportedly being held with his father at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas.
The lawyer representing the child and his father, Marc Prokosch, assured that the family, which also includes the mother and an older brother, had “done what they were asked to do (…) at each stage of the immigration process”.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said he was “stunned by the now daily mistreatment” of migrants, urging Washington to “stop practices that tear families apart.”
This incident aggravates a situation already tense by the death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old American killed by an ICE agent on January 7 during these anti-immigration operations.
Local Democratic elected officials and many state residents, who are participating in a major day of mobilization on Friday, dispute the official thesis according to which the police officer, who was not suspended, was in self-defense.
Closed businesses
Minnesota media anticipated “hundreds” of businesses, restaurants and cultural institutions would close all day to protest ICE operations in the state.
A march is planned for the beginning of the afternoon in downtown Minneapolis, before a rally in the hall hosting the NBA team’s games, which can accommodate up to 20,000 people.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said this week that “more than 10,000 illegal aliens” accused of crimes have been arrested in Minnesota, including 3,000 in the past six weeks.
Among them are at least four children, according to Liam Ramos’ school district. Minors have long been confronted by federal immigration services, both under Republican and Democratic governments.
Minnesota, many of which are “sanctuaries” limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE, has asked the courts to suspend the operation within its borders. A hearing is scheduled for Monday.
