Vice President JD Vance has fired back at claims that Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a five-year-old boy in Minneapolis.
Trump’s immigration crackdown sparked yet more backlash on Thursday after images of the child went viral on social media.
Vance admitted that he too was concerned about the report, noting he is also the father of a five-year-old son, but he learned that the boy had been abandoned by his father, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador who entered the US under Joe Biden.
‘The five year old was not arrested … his dad was an illegal alien and when they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran,’ Vance said.
The vice president spoke to reporters after attending a roundtable event in Minneapolis to try to reduce the chaos surrounding ICE enforcement actions in the city following the shooting of protester, Renee Good, on January 7.
Vance said that ICE agents had no other choice than to take the child into custody.
‘What are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the united States of America?’ he asked.
Vance indicated it was absurd to suggest that parents of children should not be arrested for being in the country illegally.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks at Royalston Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota after meeting with local officials
School officials claimed Liam Conejo Ramos, five, was taken from his driveway by agents as he returned home
‘If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who have violated our laws because they have children, then every single parent is going to be completely given immunity from ever being the subject of law enforcement,’ he said.
Trump immigration enforcement officials were widely criticized after images of the five-year-old boy being detained went viral on social media.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar claimed the boy had been detained, calling it ‘absolutely vile.’
ICE, however worked quickly to detail the rest of the story.
The child’s father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias was an illegal alien from Ecuador who had been released into the United States by Joe Biden, according to the agency.
‘As agents approached the driver Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot – abandoning his child,’ the DHS wrote on X.
‘For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias.
‘Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with the past administration’s immigration enforcement.’
Ramos’s teacher described him as a ‘bright young student’ who is ‘so kind and loving’ and is missed by his classmates
They also reminded illegal migrants that they could self-deport using an app.
School superintendent Zena Stenvik claimed several students have been detained by ICE, KARE 11 reported.
‘Why detain a 5-year-old? You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,’ Stenvik said.
Tensions in the state have risen since an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Minneapolis woman Renee Nicole Good earlier this month amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deployed nearly 3,000 agents to Minnesota as part of its ‘largest immigration operation ever.’
Stenvik claimed that ICE agents used Ramos to try to lure other adults out of the home.
‘Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let him take care of the small child, and was refused,’ Stenvik said.
‘Instead, the agent took the child out of the still-running car, led him to the door, and directed him to knock on the door asking to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home, essentially using a five-year-old as bait.’
Columbia Heights Public School District Superintendent Zena Stenvik claimed that several students have been detained by ICE in recent weeks
According to a GoFundMe for the family, Ramos and Arias were taken to an ICE facility in Texas.
Ramos’s teacher, Ella Sullivan, described him as a ‘bright young student’.
‘He’s so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him, and all I want is for him to be safe and back here,’ she said.
The family’s immigration lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said the family is seeking asylum and has been following the law throughout the process.
At the press conference, Stenvik said that three other students have been detained by federal agents in recent weeks.
In one instance, Stenvik claimed a 10-year-old girl was apprehended with her mother while on her way to class.
‘During the arrest, the child called her father on the phone to tell him that ICE agents were bringing her to school. The father immediately came to the school to find that both his daughter and wife had been taken,’ Stenvik said.
‘By the end of the school day, they were already in a detention center in Texas, and they are still there.’
Stenvik also said that a 17-year-old student was detained when ‘ICE agents pushed their way into an apartment’.
‘ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our children,’ Stenvik said.
‘The sense of safety in our community and around our schools is shaken and our hearts are shattered.’
