A controversial immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota has drawn sharp criticism after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained a 5-year-old boy during the apprehension of his father. The incident occurred Tuesday when agents approached Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, identified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as an undocumented immigrant, on his driveway as he returned home with his preschool-aged son Liam Ramos.
Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik publicly challenged the operation’s tactics, questioning why federal agents would detain a young child. ‘You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,’ Stenvik stated during a Wednesday press conference. Photographs provided by the school district show the young boy wearing a bunny-shaped winter hat while an officer holds his backpack.
The DHS defended its actions in a social media statement, asserting that ‘ICE did NOT target a child’ and characterized the operation as targeting Conejo Arias, who they claim ‘abandoned’ his son when approached. The department stated that standard procedure involves offering parents the choice to be removed with their children or having ICE place children with a designated safe person.
However, school officials present during the incident reported that another adult residing in the home was refused permission to take custody of the child. Instead, agents allegedly instructed the child to knock on the door to check for additional occupants. Legal representative Marc Prokosch indicated both father and son were likely being held at a Texas detention facility, despite the father having an active asylum case with no outstanding deportation order.
The incident forms part of broader enforcement efforts under ‘Operation Metro Surge,’ which DHS describes as targeting ‘the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens’ to restore public safety in Minnesota. The operation has generated significant community backlash in Minneapolis and St. Paul, particularly following the January 7th fatal shooting of Renee Good by a federal officer in Minneapolis, which previously sparked widespread condemnation.