US officials detain a 5-year-old child, Kamala Harris says ‘he is a baby’
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Humanitarian concerns have once again surfaced during immigration action in the United States. In a suburban area of Minneapolis, federal agents sent a five-year-old child to a detention center along with his father. According to school officials, this is not an isolated case. In recent weeks, this has been the fourth student from the same area to be taken into custody by immigration authorities.
Following the incident, widespread outrage has been reported across the country. Former US Vice President Kamala Harris strongly criticized the action. Posting on social media platform X, she wrote, “Liam Ramos is just a child. He should be at home with his family, not held in an ICE-operated detention center in Texas. I am deeply angered, and the public should also raise questions.”
School officials express concern
Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Jena Steinwick told reporters on January 21 that federal agents took Liam Conejo Ramos from a car parked in his home’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon. She alleged that agents asked the child to knock on the house door to check whether others were inside. According to the superintendent, “A five-year-old innocent child was used merely as a trap.”
Family held at Texas detention center
Family attorney Mark Prokesch said that the child and his father are being held at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas, where they are likely placed in a family holding unit. He added that direct contact with them has not yet been established. Addressing a press conference, the lawyer said, “We are exploring all legal options to secure the family’s release on legal and humanitarian grounds.”
ICE response: child was not targeted
Responding to the controversy, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said ICE did not target a child. According to her, agents were attempting to arrest the child’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an Ecuadorian national allegedly living illegally in the US. She claimed that during the operation, the father fled on foot, leaving the child behind. “To ensure the child’s safety, an ICE officer stayed with him while others pursued and detained the father,” she said. McLaughlin added that in such cases, parents are given the option to remain with their children or hand them over to a trusted person.