5-year-old child is detained by immigration agents in the US

The boy was returning from school when he was removed from the family car by ICE agents and taken with his father to an immigration detention center in Texas. Department of Homeland Security denies targeting the boy

A five-year-old boy returning from school in Minnesota, in the United States, was taken away with his father by federal agents during an anti-immigration raid, the family’s lawyer reported.

Liam CR is the fourth student from a suburb of Minneapolis to be detained by immigration agents in recent weeks, as announced this Wednesday (22/01) by the superintendent of Columbia Heights public schools, Zena Stenvik, at a press conference.

According to the superintendent, the family has an open asylum request and there was no order against them to leave the country.

“ICE did not target a child”

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security denied that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained the boy because he was an immigrant. “ICE did not target a child. The child was abandoned,” he said.

According to the ministry, the agents were on a mission to arrest Liam’s father, Adrian ACA, who was living illegally in the country, and that he fled on foot and “abandoned his son”.

“For the safety of the child, one of our ICE agents remained with the child while the other agents seized CA,” the statement continued, adding that parents can choose to be removed with their children or leave them in the care of someone else at their discretion.

“Another adult who lives in the property was outside [presenciando a ação do ICE] and begged the officers to let them take care of the child,” Stenvik said, adding that the pleas were reportedly ignored. “Instead, the officer took the child out of the still-running car, took him to the door and instructed him to knock, asking him to let him in to see if anyone else was home. Essentially, they used a five-year-old boy as bait.”

According to lawyer Marc Prokosch, who defends the family, father and son are together in a cell at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas.

In addition to Liam, Stenvik said that immigration agents have also taken three other students aged 17 and 10 in recent weeks.

Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, ICE has accumulated reports of abuses and human rights violations. The American president claims to act to expel dangerous illegal immigrants from the country.

Originally published by DW on 01/23/2026