ICE Detains Four Minnesota Children Amid Federal Immigration Enforcement Surge

U.S. immigration authorities detained four children from a Minnesota school district this month, including a 5‑year‑old preschooler who was taken into custody alongside his father outside their home, Columbia Heights Public Schools officials said this week washingtonpost +1. The incidents, which occurred in four separate operations since Jan. 6, came amid a large federal enforcement surge in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area involving thousands of officers startribune +1.

District leaders said the detentions have left families and staff fearful, accusing agents of using the youngest child “as bait” to enter the family’s home, an allegation federal officials dispute washingtonpost +1. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said agents were targeting adults in all four cases and insisted that “ICE did NOT target a child,” describing the 5‑year‑old as having been “abandoned” when his father allegedly fled on foot startribune +1.

What Happened to the Four Children?

According to the district, the first arrest occurred on Jan. 6, when a 10‑year‑old girl and her mother were detained as the child headed to elementary school and were later transferred to a detention facility in Texas theguardian +1. On Jan. 14, a 17‑year‑old high school student and her mother were taken from their apartment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, followed on Jan. 20 by another 17‑year‑old removed from a car on the way to school, school officials said mprnews +1.

That same afternoon, 5‑year‑old Liam Conejo Ramos was detained with his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, in the driveway of their Columbia Heights home after returning from preschool, according to the district and the family’s attorney theguardian +1. Superintendent Zena Stenvik said an agent walked the boy to the front door and had him knock to check if anyone else was inside, a tactic she called “using a 5‑year‑old as bait” fox9 +1. “Why detain a 5‑year‑old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” she said startribune. The family’s lawyer said father and son were being held at a Texas detention facility and that their asylum case remained pending with no final deportation order nbcnews.

Enforcement Shift Near Schools Sparks Backlash

The detentions followed a major policy shift last year, when DHS rescinded Biden‑era “protected areas” guidance that had discouraged immigration arrests in and around schools, hospitals and places of worship nbcnews +1. In announcing the change on Jan. 21, 2025, DHS said “criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” arguing that officers should instead rely on “common sense” in deciding when to act nbcnews. Legal scholars have warned the rollback could make school routes and campuses more vulnerable to enforcement operations, even as students retain constitutional protections and privacy rights aalrr.

Community reaction in Minnesota has been intense. Educators reported students afraid to walk to bus stops, while immigrant‑rights groups organized rapid‑response teams and protests across the Twin Cities ice +1. Some local officials denounced the tactics as traumatizing and called for federal investigations, while the White House framed the Minnesota surge—described in some reports as involving 2,000–3,000 federal officers—as necessary to remove immigration violators and those labeled criminal offenders cis +1. DHS said in a statement that officers in the Columbia Heights cases followed the law and that, when parents are detained, they are asked whether children should accompany them or be placed with another caregiver startribune +1.

The Bigger Picture

The Columbia Heights arrests encapsulated a broader national clash over where and how immigration laws are enforced, especially around children and schools. With formal “sensitive locations” protections now rescinded, school districts and families in Minnesota and beyond are scrambling to update safety plans, legal guidance and communication protocols, even as court challenges and potential state‑level protections are explored nbcnews +2. For now, the images of a preschooler in a winter hat and Spider‑Man backpack being led toward federal agents have become a flashpoint in a debate that is likely to intensify as large‑scale enforcement operations continue.