Are ICE using children for bait
Executive summary
Multiple local and national news outlets report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained a 5-year-old boy in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and school and district officials have alleged the child was “used as bait” to draw other family members out of a home [1] [2] [3]. Those allegations are reported consistently across outlets, but public statements from DHS/ICE in the available reporting do not explicitly confirm the bait tactic and some official commentary describes standard procedures for children in family arrests [4].
1. The incident that sparked the claim: what was reported
Columbia Heights Public Schools and local officials say federal agents detained at least four students over a short period, notably a 5‑year‑old identified as Liam Conejo Ramos, and that an agent led the boy from a vehicle to his front door and told him to knock to see if anyone else was home — conduct district leaders described as “essentially using a five‑year‑old as bait” [1] [2] [3]. Multiple outlets including The Guardian, MPR News, The Washington Post and NPR have repeated those descriptions based on statements from the superintendent, school officials and lawyers for the family [2] [1] [3] [5].
2. Official responses and gaps in public record
Reporting shows DHS/ICE statements focused on standard family‑detention practice — saying parents are asked whether they want to be removed with children or to designate a safe person to care for them — but the department did not directly address the specific allegation that the child was used as bait in the cited accounts [4]. That leaves a factual gap: independent confirmation of the precise choreography the agents used in that moment (who gave which orders, what alternatives were offered on scene, and whether the action complied with any internal ICE guidance) is not provided in the available reports [4].
3. Context and precedent cited by reporters and advocates
Journalists and civil liberties groups have framed the incident within a broader pattern of aggressive enforcement in Minnesota and elsewhere; reporting notes an ICE surge to the state and community alarm over raids that have frightened children and disrupted schools [5] [6]. Some outlets reference historical documentation that ICE has used deceptive tactics in past operations — a point raised as context in coverage and by advocates arguing the method in this case fits that pattern — but the sourced stories tie that more to criticism and prior reporting than to documented public evidence that ICE issued a standing “bait children” policy [7].
4. How to weight the claim: allegation vs. established fact
The claim that ICE “used” a child as bait is presented repeatedly by local school leaders, lawyers, and multiple news organizations — making it a credible and newsworthy allegation [1] [2] [3] [5]. However, the reporting available in these sources does not include a direct ICE admission of that tactic nor independent on‑scene corroboration beyond statements from officials and images cited by outlets, so the claim remains an asserted fact by authorities and advocates rather than an incontrovertible, independently verified practice admitted by ICE [4] [8].
5. Bottom line and limitations of the record
There is strong, repeated reporting that school and local officials say ICE used a 5‑year‑old as bait in Columbia Heights, and that allegation has fueled political and community outrage [1] [2] [3] [8]. The available public record in the cited stories, however, lacks an explicit ICE confirmation or detailed contemporaneous official documentation released in these articles that would settle whether the tactic was intentional, routine, or a mischaracterization of officers following standard family‑arrest steps — therefore the allegation stands as credible and widely reported but not conclusively proven by the sources provided [4] [7].