Camilla Jessen
JD Vance responds after ICE detention of 5-year-old sparks backlash.
Outrage has continued to build in Minnesota after reports that federal immigration agents detained several children during enforcement operations.
Vice President JD Vance has now addressed the controversy.
Raids and tensions
Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minneapolis have intensified in recent weeks, fuelling protests and political anger. Tensions escalated following the fatal shooting of Renée Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, during an incident involving ICE agents on January 7.
Further criticism followed reports that ICE agents arrested workers at a Mexican restaurant after dining there earlier the same day.
The situation worsened after school officials said five-year-old preschooler Liam Ramos was detained on January 20 after returning home from school with his father.
School officials speak out
According to Columbia Heights Public Schools superintendent Zena Stenvik, Liam was one of at least four children from the district detained by ICE.
She accused agents of “roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our kids,” adding that children were left “traumatized” and the community “shaken.”
A district statement said an adult known to the family offered to take Liam, but ICE refused and instead led him to the door to knock, “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait.”
Vance shifts blame
JD Vance addressed the issue during a meeting reported by Fox 9 Minneapolis–St. Paul, which city officials said they were not invited to attend.
He claimed local authorities were obstructing federal efforts.
“What kind of a person tells their local police, ‘Don’t protect somebody if they’re being assaulted by a rioter’. It’s crazy. And it’s got to stop,” Vance said.
“We’re seeing this level of chaos, only in Minneapolis,” he added, blaming a “lack of cooperation” between state and federal law enforcement.
The child’s case
Vance also addressed Liam’s detention directly.
“I’m a father of a five-year-old… and I think to myself, oh, my God, this is terrible,” he said.
“But what I find is that the five-year-old was not arrested, that his dad was an illegal immigrant, and that when they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran,” Vance claimed.
“So, the story is that ICE detained a five-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do?” he said, arguing officers could not ignore alleged violations simply because a suspect has children.
Liam’s father’s attorney has denied the federal version of events, saying the man entered the U.S. legally and is awaiting an asylum decision.
Sources: Fox 9 Minneapolis–St. Paul, Columbia Heights Public Schools
