ICE Detains 5-Year-Old Minnesota Boy Arriving Home — Here’s What We Know

Little Liam Ramos had just turned five. But instead of celebrating the milestone with birthday cake and bedtime stories, he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement alongside his father, in a move critics are calling cruel and outrageous.

Child Detained on Doorstep as Car Engine Still Running

The incident unfolded on Tuesday, January 22, in the afternoon in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, where Liam and his father had just arrived home from school. According to Zena Stenvik, the local school district superintendent, the car was still running when ICE agents moved in and took both father and son into custody.

Zena rushed to the scene after being notified, but it was too late. Liam and his father were already gone. What happened next sent shockwaves through the community: the agents allegedly used the five-year-old boy to knock on his own front door, attempting to lure others out of the house.

“Essentially using a five-year-old as bait,” Zena said during a tense press conference on Wednesday. Another adult at the home begged agents to allow them to take custody of Liam, in a desperate attempt to keep the child out of detention. But ICE refused.

A heart-wrenching twist came just 20 minutes later, when Liam’s older brother, a middle schooler, returned home, only to discover his family had vanished without a trace. Two school principals, also alerted, rushed to the scene to offer comfort and support.

The Ramos family is currently in the midst of an active asylum case, according to their attorney, Marc Prokosch. He insists they entered the United States legally through a port of entry and submitted all required documentation.

“The family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,” he said. “They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.” Marc added that there was no deportation order against them and that he believed that Liam and his father were detained together.

Haunting Photos Reveal Boy Beside Armed Agent

The school district released two gut-wrenching photos that have since sparked outrage. In one, Liam — wearing a blue knit hat — is seen standing beside a masked ICE agent on the doorstep of his home. In another, a man holds Liam’s backpack near a parked car.

“Why detain a five-year-old?” Superintendent Zena asked. “You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”

The Department of Homeland Security quickly attempted to defend the operation in a post on X. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin insisted it was a “targeted operation” aimed at Liam’s father, who she referred to as an “illegal alien,” released to the US by the Biden administration.

“ICE did NOT target a child,” Tricia declared, claiming the father had fled on foot, abandoning his son. She said one ICE officer remained with Liam while others pursued the father. She also stated that, in such cases, parents are given the choice: to remain with their children or designate someone else to care for them.

Outrage Grows as Minnesota Grapples With ICE Surge

Liam’s case is not isolated. According to officials, he is one of four children in the Columbia Heights School District detained by ICE in just the past two weeks, as part of an intensified federal enforcement surge across Minnesota.

The firestorm surrounding Liam’s detention only intensified Thursday night as the Department of Homeland Security doubled down — prompting an even louder outcry from political leaders, teachers, faith groups, and heartbroken citizens across the country.

In a fresh statement, Tricia claimed agents were confronted by agitators at the scene — people she accused of “yelling and blowing horns, scaring the child” during what she insisted was a “targeted operation” focused solely on Liam’s father. But that defense did little to calm public fury.

Kamala Harris Speaks Out

Former Vice President Kamala Harris weighed in on social media, and her response was blistering. “Liam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center,” she wrote. “I am outraged, and you should be too.”

She wasn’t alone. Voices from every corner of the internet erupted in sympathy and disbelief over the boy’s treatment. “That poor child,” one person posted. Another pleaded, “Don’t involve the children!!” And a third said, “That poor baby. My heart goes out to him.”

‘All I Want Is for Him to Be Back Here and Safe’

The anguish reached into the very classroom where Liam once played and learned like any other child. In a statement released by the school district, Liam’s preschool teacher painted a heartbreaking picture of absence.

She described him as a bright, curious student, dearly missed by his classmates. “All I want is for him to be back here and safe,” she said. Meanwhile, the district continues to reel from the knowledge that four of their own students have now been swept up in recent ICE operations.

Attorney Marc warned of lasting psychological damage — not just for Liam, but for every child who hears what happened. “Once his classmates learn the government took him away … I’m not qualified to talk about how much damage that is going to cause,” he said grimly. He emphasized that the family did everything legally, and yet their child was detained like a fugitive.

Mother, Pregnant and Terrified, Hid Inside as Agents Swarmed

While Liam was being marched to the front door by agents, his pregnant mother was inside the house, frozen in fear. Pastor Sergio Amezcua, who is helping the family through the aftermath, told CNN that neighbors warned her not to come outside, afraid she’d be the next to be taken.

“She was terrified,” he said. She remained hidden, along with the couple’s teenage son, as agents and sirens surrounded their home. This incident and the fierce fallout that followed has laid bare the emotional toll of immigration enforcement tactics, particularly on children who bear no blame but suffer the consequences.

The collision between ICE agents, panicked families, school officials, political leaders, and community advocates has ignited a nationwide conversation that shows no signs of slowing. And in the middle of it all is one small boy in a knit blue hat, who should have been playing with his friends, but instead became the face of a policy now under fire from coast to coast.