A public school superintendent in Minnesota said federal immigration agents have detained four students over the last two weeks, including a 5-year-old who was allegedly "used as bait."
Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, said 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were detained in their driveway as they returned from school on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Stenvik said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents refused to allow the boy to stay with an adult who lived in the house and instead told the boy to knock on his front door "to see if anyone else was home – essentially using a 5-year-old as bait."
Liam and his father were taken by immigration agents and brought toa detention facility in Texas, Stenvik said, adding that they had active asylum cases and did not have deportation orders.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that ICE conducted a "targeted operation" to detain Liam's father, writing "ICE did NOT target a child."
