Outrage is growing in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, after ICE agents detained a 5-year-old boy named Liam Ramos and his father, who is an asylum seeker. Photos from the scene show a masked agent standing next to Liam, who was wearing his backpack and a blue winter hat with bunny ears. He had just returned from preschool. The father and son were then quickly sent to a detention facility in Texas.
On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis and defended ICE for targeting the boy’s father and detaining the preschooler.

Vice President JD Vance: “So, the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death?”

Local officials in Columbia Heights condemned the detention of 5-year-old Liam Ramos. Rachel James serves on the Columbia Heights City Council. She described efforts by neighbors to protect the boy.

Rachel James: “I heard one neighbor say, 'I live in this house. I'm part of this family. I can take him. Let him come to me.’ I heard another neighbor on the other side say, 'I have the forms. His mom signed the forms. Let me have him. I know him. I know him. … I kept saying, “Stop. Wait. He can go with us. He can go with the teachers.”' And then they took him over to the car, and he was just standing there. And then they quickly put him in the back seat and drove away.”

On Thursday, the lawyer for the Ramos family, Marc Prokosch, said Liam and his father had come to the U.S. in 2024 from Ecuador to seek asylum.

Marc Prokosch: “Liam and his dad did enter the United States at a port of entry to seek asylum through the CBP One app at the Brownsville border crossing. So they did everything right when they came in. They used the app. They made an appointment. They came to the border and presented themselves to Customs and Border Patrol. They’ve shared all of their information with the government, and they were following the process. They were just trying to secure safety and persecution for their family from their home country. But ICE didn’t care about the fact that they had those pending claims, and then just arrested them.”