Federal agents detain 5 Y/O during Minneapolis immigration sweep

Federal immigration agents detained a five-year-old boy in Minnesota while taking his father into custody, school officials and the family’s lawyer said. The child was returning home from pre-school in a Minneapolis suburb when officers intervened. Authorities later transferred both the child and his father to an immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas. This incident marked the fourth case in recent weeks involving a student from the same school district.

Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said agents removed the child from a running car parked in the family’s driveway. She said officers instructed the boy to knock on the house door to check if others were inside. Stenvik described the action as effectively using the child to lure adults from the home. According to her account, the father warned the child’s mother not to open the door.

Also Read: Harvard MBA, 30, Shares Honest Take on Failure and Self-Doubt

Officials clash over handling of minor as father and child sent to Federal detention

School officials said agents refused to leave the child with another adult living in the home or with school representatives. However, the Department of Homeland Security disputed that version. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the father requested that the child remain with him. She confirmed that both are now together in detention in Texas.

The family entered the United States in 2024 and currently has an active asylum case. Officials said authorities had not ordered them to leave the country. Stenvik questioned the decision to detain such a young child and said the boy posed no threat. DHS responded that immigration officers did not target the child. McLaughlin said agents were arresting the father, whom officials identified as an Ecuadorian national living illegally in the United States. She added that the father fled briefly, leaving the child behind.

Advocates raise concerns over child welfare and conditions at Dilley facility

Minnesota has recently become a focus of federal immigration enforcement. Officials said agents made roughly 3,000 arrests in the state over six weeks. Vice President J.D. Vance later addressed the incident, saying officers detained the child for safety reasons. Meanwhile, children’s rights advocates raised concerns about conditions at the Texas detention facility, reporting widespread illness and prolonged confinement among detained children.

Also Read: After 1st T20I, Sunil Gavaskar Calls This India Star a Magician