ICE Denies Using 5-Year-Old as 'Bait' in Detention (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Why detain a five-year-old? You can't tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.

[00:00:05] Speaker 2: School officials in Minneapolis say five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was detained with his father by federal agents when he returned home from school.

[00:00:14] Speaker 1: Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let him take care of the small child and was refused. 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.

[00:00:38] Speaker 2: ICE responded on X denying that they used the child as bait. He is one of the four students from the Columbia Heights Public Schools District detained by ICE in the past two weeks that according to the district's superintendent.

[00:00:51] Speaker 1: This family is following U.S. legal parameters and has an active asylum case with no order of deportation. I have viewed the legal paperwork with my own eyes.

[00:01:02] Speaker 2: Liam and his father presented themselves to border officers in Texas in December 2024 to apply for asylum. They are now being held at an ICE facility for families in Texas, a source told CNN. The Department of Homeland Security told CNN in a statement that the father was the intended target of the operation and quote ICE did not target a child. It said an ICE agent stayed with Liam after his father quote fled on foot abandoning his child when the agents approached him. DHS says parents can decide if they want to be removed with their children or ICE can place children with a safe person the parent designates.

[00:01:36] Speaker 1: The family is pursuing an asylum claim which is lawful to do.