What really happened with the 5 year old in Minneapolis?
Executive summary
A five‑year‑old boy identified as Liam Conejo Ramos was photographed standing next to ICE agents in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and school officials say he and his father were taken into federal custody as they returned from preschool and later transported to a detention center in Texas [1] [2] [3]. Local school leaders and the family’s lawyer say agents “used” the child as bait to draw relatives from the home, while the Department of Homeland Security and ICE insist the child was not targeted and say the father fled and left the child behind — a factual dispute that national reporting has not independently resolved [4] [5] [6].
1. What happened at the scene: chronology and imagery
Multiple outlets reported that on January 20 federal immigration agents detained a five‑year‑old identified as Liam Conejo Ramos alongside his father in Columbia Heights after the child arrived home from preschool; a widely circulated photograph shows a young boy with a Spider‑Man backpack and oversized hat next to agents outside a vehicle [3] [2] [7]. School district leaders said the pair were taken from their driveway and by the end of that school day were in a Texas detention center, a detail carried in regional and national coverage [8] [1] [9].
2. School officials and the family’s account: ‘used as bait’
Columbia Heights public school leadership and the family’s attorney characterized the incident as part of an aggressive enforcement sweep in which the five‑year‑old was “essentially” used to draw other family members into the open; the school superintendent said this boy was among four district students detained in recent weeks and framed the tactic as traumatizing for children [4] [5] [8]. The family’s lawyer and local witnesses reported that another adult in the home had asked agents to leave the child with them, according to media summaries of those statements [10] [5].
3. Federal account and counterclaims: ‘abandoned,’ not targeted
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE pushed back, publicly saying ICE did not target a child and asserting the man arrested had fled and left the child, a claim repeated by DHS spokespeople and cited in coverage of the dispute [6] [2]. Administration officials and visiting federal figures, including Vice President JD Vance, referenced the episode while defending the operation and questioned criticism after being briefed on what they were told about the child’s circumstances [11] [12].
4. The broader enforcement context in Minneapolis
Reporting places the incident inside a much larger DHS‑led surge of immigration enforcement in Minnesota that has involved about 3,000 arrests in recent weeks, and school and city officials say several children in the Columbia Heights district have been detained during that period — facts that local leaders use to underline community alarm [7] [3] [8]. The operations came after a high‑profile fatal shooting involving an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier that month, an event that amplified tensions and scrutiny of federal activity [7] [13].
5. What remains in dispute and what reporting cannot confirm
Major outlets report conflicting narratives: school officials and the family’s counsel say the child was used as bait and transported with his father to Texas, while DHS/ICE say the child was abandoned by an adult who fled and that agents were not targeting a child; reporters have documented the photograph and the transfer to Texas but have not produced independent evidence resolving which account precisely reflects what agents did at the moment of contact [1] [4] [6] [2]. The Guardian notes the family’s lawyer’s claim that the family entered legally and was pursuing asylum, a detail presented by counsel rather than independently verified by the news organizations cited here [5].
6. Political and public reactions shaping the story
The image and accounts have become a focal point in debates over enforcement tactics, prompting condemnation from local Democrats and activists and defensive messaging from federal officials who argue enforcement is lawful and necessary; media coverage has highlighted both the symbolic power of a small child in handcuffs and the government’s insistence on lawful procedure, making the incident a flashpoint in a larger national fight over immigration policy [5] [6] [11].