Immigration and Customs Enforcement is defending its detainment of a 5-year-old child in Minnesota, as the agency says he was given McDonald’s after being “abandoned” by his father.
As Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an Ecuadoran national, was picked up by federal immigration agents in a Minneapolis suburb, his son, preschooler Liam Ramos, was also taken into ICE custody.
Ramos’s detainment has sparked further outrage in the Twin Cities, a community already on edge after 37-year-old Minnesota mother Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross earlier this month.
At a press briefing on Friday, ICE spokesperson Marcos Charles claimed that “Arias fled from law enforcement on foot, abandoning his child in the middle of winter in a vehicle.”
“One of our officers stayed behind with that child while other officers apprehended his father. After conducting the arrest, my officers stayed with the child,” he continued. “They cared for him, took him to get something to eat from a drive through restaurant, and spent hours ensuring he was taken care of.”
Charles said that ICE did “everything they could to reunite him with his family,” but claimed that his family “refused to take him in and open the door,” when agents came to his house.
Ramos is currently being held with his father in an immigration detention facility in Texas. Arias entered the country in 2024 through the CBP One app, which had been used for many years to provide a legal pathway for migrants at the border to seek asylum.
The Department of Homeland Security is maintaining its narrative that the 5-year-old child was “abandoned” by his father and that his mother would not bring him into custody with her.
“He darted, ran, and abandoned the child,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on Newsmax. “Our law enforcement, in these frigid temperatures, stayed with the child, tried to bring him into custody with the mother, who actually would not take the child into custody, which is so sad — that is so horrific.”
“Our law enforcement officers actually were taking care of the child, brought him to McDonald’s, were playing his favorite music to really calm him down,” McLaughlin continued.
Eyewitnesses said that Arias was yelling at Ramos’ mother as she was inside the home not to open the door to federal agents, to avoid her also being taken into custody.
The family’s attorney has maintained that the family entered the country legally and “have been following the legal process perfectly,” as they have a pending asylum case and no deportation orders against them.
“The family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,” he said. “They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.”
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