WASHINGTON: Former US Vice President Kamala Harris has condemned the detention of a five-year-old boy along with his father by US immigration authorities, making him the fourth student to be detained in a suburban Minneapolis school district in recent days, local media reported on Friday.
Taking to social media platform X, Harris posted, “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. I am outraged, and you should be too.”
According to Marc Prokosch, a lawyer working with the family, the boy and his father were taken to Dilley, Texas, where they have been held at an immigration detention center. He said that the boy and his father came to the US from Ecuador in 2024 and both of them have an active asylum claim, The New York Times reported.
While addressing a press conference on Thursday, Prokosch said, “These are not illegal aliens. They came legally and are pursuing a legal pathway.”
A photo released by the school system shows five-year-old kid, Liam Conejo Ramos, standing next to a vehicle with an adult’s hand on his backpack. School district officials stated that the five-year-old boy and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, had just reached home when immigration officials apprehended them.
US Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin stated that the father fled on foot and left Liam behind in the vehicle when the agents wanted to arrest the former. McLaughlin stated that agents had tried to get Liam’s mother to keep the boy, however, she had “refused” to take him. McLaughlin said Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias told federal agents that he wanted Liam to live with him.
In a statement, Stenvik, the district superintendent, stated that another adult who lived in the family’s home had “begged” to care for Liam, The New York Times reported. However, the federal agents did not permit it.
While addressing a press conference on Thursday, Mary Granlad said that she had heard an adult saying that “I will take the child.” She had even requested the authorities to allow her to keep Liam as a representative of the school.
She said Liam’s father was shouting at adults who were inside the home to not open the door, possibly due to fear that agents would detain others. Previously, school officials accused immigration officials of making the boy knock on the door of his home as “bait” so that they could arrest others. However, immigration officials have rejected the allegation.
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