U.S. immigration agents detained at least four children this month from a Minneapolis-area school district, including a five-year-old, officials said. The actions — part of a wider operation that deployed roughly 3,000 federal officers to Minnesota — have prompted strong local criticism. DHS said a child was not intentionally targeted, describing an arrest in which the suspect allegedly fled and left his child behind. District officials say some children were taken while en route to school or from home, and some families are now in detention.
ICE Detains Four Children In Minneapolis-Area School District, Including 5-Year-Old, Officials Say
A person raises a sign in protest agains U.S. Customs Enforcement and Immigration (ICE) during a demonstration outside a dormant prison that is under contract to become an ICE detention center in Hudson, Colorado, U.S., January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
U.S. immigration authorities detained at least four children this month from Columbia Heights Public Schools, a district near Minneapolis, officials said on Thursday. The youngest child was five years old, a development that drew immediate criticism and heightened scrutiny of federal immigration tactics in the region.
What Happened
The detentions occurred amid a broader immigration enforcement operation that has included the deployment of roughly 3,000 federal officers to Minnesota's largest city. President Donald Trump has defended the actions as part of an effort to remove violent criminals from the United States.
District Response: Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik questioned the need to detain a young child, saying at a news conference,
"Why detain a 5-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal."
DHS/ICE Account: A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, denied that a child was intentionally targeted. McLaughlin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were conducting an operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who is alleged to be in the country illegally. According to the agency's account, Conejo Arias fled as agents approached and left his child behind; for the child's safety, one ICE officer stayed with the child while other officers carried out the arrest.
McLaughlin also said that when parents are targeted in ICE operations, they are asked whether they wish to leave the country with their children or have the children placed with a person designated by the parents. DHS did not directly address the school district's assertion that other children beyond the cases described by ICE have also been detained.
Reported Incidents
At the news conference, Stenvik identified the five-year-old as Liam Conejo Ramos and said he was taken with his father in their driveway after being picked up from preschool. Stenvik said a 17-year-old high-school student was seized on the way to school on the same day by armed, masked agents while no parent was present.
She also described two earlier incidents: one in which a 10-year-old was detained on the way to elementary school and — according to the district — remains in a Texas detention center with her mother, and another in which a 17-year-old high-school student was detained with her mother at their apartment.
Reaction And Context
The detentions have intensified debate over the scope and tactics of federal immigration enforcement. Advocates and local officials have raised concerns about the impact of such operations on children and community trust in public institutions like schools. ICE and DHS maintain that their actions are aimed at enforcing immigration laws and ensuring public safety.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Scott Malone, Chizu Nomiyama and Deepa Babington)
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