COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minnesota: US immigration authorities detained at least four children including a 5-year-old from a Minneapolis-area school district this month as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, school district and city officials said on Thursday (Jan 22).
The Republican administration has deployed about 3,000 officers around Minnesota’s largest city, where residents have been on edge since an immigration officer shot and killed a US citizen this month. Democrats and local leaders have accused federal agents of aggressive and unnecessary tactics that have left many immigrant communities afraid.
The child, Liam Conejo Ramos, aged 5, watched as masked agents took his father from the driveway of their home after the two returned from preschool on Tuesday, according to Rachel James, a Columbia Heights city council member who saw several vehicles blocking half the road near the home.
The agents then took the boy, wearing a blue hat and a Spider-Man backpack, and pointed to the back door of the house and motioned for him to knock, she said.
“I can’t imagine what was going through Liam’s mind, but I can tell you what I saw on his face. He was frozen and paralyzed,” James told Reuters on Thursday. “He was not crying, but he looked so scared.”