ICE detained two brothers in second and fifth grade from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, along with their mother, who has an active asylum claim. School staff escorted the boys into the Whipple federal building at the mother’s request but were denied custody; the family was later transferred to the Dilley, Texas family detention center. Liam Ramos, a five-year-old from the same district, remains detained in Dilley with his father. Local lawyers are fighting rapid out-of-state transfers that they say hinder access to legal counsel and harm families and children.
ICE Detains Two More Columbia Heights Students; Families Transferred to Texas Detention Center
Immigrants seeking asylum walk through the ICE south Texas family residential center in Dilley, Texas.Photograph: Eric Gay/AP(Photograph: Eric Gay/AP)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken custody of two brothers who attend the same Columbia Heights elementary school as five-year-old Liam Ramos, school officials said. The children — in second and fifth grade — were detained with their mother and later transferred to the family immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas.
The Columbia Heights school district superintendent told reporters the mother, who has an active asylum claim, was taken into custody when she attended a scheduled court appointment. From detention she called school staff and asked that her sons be brought to the Whipple federal building, a local immigration holding site used during recent enforcement operations in the area.
According to the superintendent, the mother indicated she had no other caregiver available, so trusted school staff escorted the boys to the Whipple building to reunite them with her. School leaders asked immigration agents whether the mother and children could be released to staff custody; agents refused, the superintendent said.
"It was awful. It was heartbreaking for everybody," the superintendent said, adding that school staff are not trained for these situations and that their primary mission is protecting and educating children.
Valley View Elementary principal Jason Kuhlman and other district staff accompanied the children. A school nurse held both boys’ hands as they entered the facility, and staff tried to provide comfort as the setting and presence of armed officers alarmed the children and school personnel.
The district said the family was later moved to the Dilley, Texas family detention center. Liam Ramos — a five-year-old preschooler who was detained last week with his father — is also being held at Dilley. District officials said there are now five students enrolled in Columbia Heights who are detained at that facility.
Local immigration attorneys are challenging the rapid transfer of detainees out of state, arguing that moving people to Texas removes them from the court jurisdiction in Minnesota and makes it harder for detained families to access lawyers and pursue their cases. In a related case last week, agents detained a two-year-old girl and her father and transported them to Texas despite a judge’s order to keep them in-state; the child was later returned to Minnesota after a court ruling.
School leaders described the broader impact on the community: students living in fear, families avoiding school or learning remotely, and trauma rippling through children and staff. "We are not crime-ridden here. Our students and their families are not criminals … Our families deserve to go back to living in a peaceful way," the superintendent said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The family has not been publicly identified.
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