What We Know: ICE’s Claim That 5‑Year‑Old Liam Ramos Was ‘Abandoned’ During Minnesota Arrest Is Disputed

Is it true that a five‑year‑old Minnesota boy, identified as Liam Ramos, was "abandoned" by his father — described by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a "criminal illegal alien" — when agents arrived to make an arrest? Public accounts from school officials at the scene, the boy’s attorney and independent record checks raise questions about ICE’s version of events. Lead Stories has requested body‑worn camera footage and official ICE reports to clarify what happened and will update this report if new evidence is provided.

What ICE Said

In a Jan. 22, 2026 post on X, ICE said in part: “Both children were ABANDONED by their criminal illegal alien parent who put the child's life in danger by leaving him/her behind and fleeing.” The agency also said an officer remained with the child while other agents apprehended the father.

What Witnesses And School Officials Say

Officials from Columbia Heights Public Schools who were at the scene on Jan. 20, 2026 dispute ICE’s abandonment claim. Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik told reporters (on a C‑SPAN video) that she was told witnesses saw officers grab the father on the driveway and that when she arrived the father’s car was still running. Stenvik said she was told the father had been handcuffed on the driveway (see C‑SPAN timecode ~05:00).

Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at /x.com/ICEgov/status/2014367006363930843/photo/2.

Mary Granlund, chair of the Columbia Heights school board, said she arrived as the child was being taken and described an opportunity to safely transfer the child to nearby adults, including the boy’s mother who was visible in the home. Granlund said online video clips of the scene matched what she observed (C‑SPAN timecode ~09:32).

Attorney And Records Checks

The family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch (reported in some outlets as Mark Prokosch), says he found no Minnesota criminal cases for the man identified by ICE as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. Lead Stories independently searched the Minnesota Judicial Branch online case lookup for Jan. 1, 2024 through Jan. 22, 2026 using Arias’s full name and found no records.

Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of search results at https://publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch.

Prokosch also said the family followed U.S. procedural steps to seek asylum, including using the CBP‑1 app in 2024 and presenting themselves at a port of entry in Brownsville. Lead Stories noted that asylum application records are confidential and could not be independently confirmed.

What’s Still Unclear

ICE has repeated its characterization of the father as a "criminal illegal alien" and the agency’s posts assert the child was abandoned. Lead Stories has formally requested ICE body‑worn camera footage and official agent reports that could corroborate or contradict those assertions but had not received them at the time of this report. Local school officials say their eyewitness accounts do not match ICE’s description of events.

Context And Next Steps

Public reaction included claims from political figures that the agency used the child as "bait," which ICE denied, saying an officer remained with the child for safety while other agents made the arrest. Journalists and the boy’s legal team are seeking additional official records and footage to establish a clearer timeline.

Lead Stories and other reporters will update coverage if ICE provides bodycam footage, agent reports or other documentation. Until such evidence is released, key facts — including whether the father fled on foot and whether he was handcuffed at the scene — remain contested between ICE and multiple eyewitnesses.