Minnesota school officials say ICE used 5-year-old as ‘bait’ to make arrests. Here’s what we know

In January 2026, a claim spread online that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minnesota used a 5-year-old child as “bait” to lure in people to arrest them. 

Users spread the rumor on Reddit, Facebook and X, including Democratic politicians such as Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and former Vice President Kamala Harris. 

School officials have, in fact, accused ICE of using 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos as “bait” to lure people out of the boy’s home. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has disputed the claim, instead alleging that Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled from arrest, thus “abandoning his child.” 

DHS said in a Jan. 22 statement that the father and his son were being held “at Dilley’s,” presumably Dilley Immigration Processing Center, also known as South Texas Family Residential Center, the country’s largest family detention center. Like many ICE facilities, it has come under fire over alleged poor treatment of the families held there. 

At a Jan. 22 news conference, Marc Prokosch, the family’s lawyer, said that they were following a legal asylum process.

We have not rated this claim because we do not have credible video or documentation of the incident that can definitively prove what happened. Here’s what we know as of this writing:

School officials: ICE ‘directed’ Liam to knock on door

This allegation originated from a Jan. 21, 2026, news conference held at Valley View Elementary School by Columbia Heights Public Schools, a school district north of Minneapolis. Superintendent Zena Stenvik told journalists that four students had been detained by ICE, including the student Stenvik said was used as “bait.”

Here’s the relevant portion of the statement from a news release a district spokesperson, Kristen Stuenkel, shared via email (emphasis ours): 

As of today, four of our students, our children, have been detained by ICE. Just yesterday, January 20th, 2026, two of our students were taken by ICE agents. On the way to school, a 17-year-old high school student, a minor, was taken by armed and masked agents, alone. No parents were present. The student was removed from their car and taken away.

Then, in the afternoon, Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old child, was apprehended with his father while in their driveway, just having arrived home from this Preschool classroom. Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let them take care of the small child, but was refused. Instead, the agent took the child out of the still-running vehicle, 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 5-year-old as bait. 

Twenty minutes after Liam and his father were taken, the middle school brother came home to a missing dad, a missing little brother, and a terrified mother. Columbia Academy Principal Leslee Sherk and Valley View Elementary Principal Jason Kuhlman were also at the house to provide support to the family. 

This family is following US legal parameters and has an active asylum case with no order of deportation. I have viewed the legal paperwork with my own eyes. Why detain a 5-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal. 

Stenvik also shared details about the two other children taken by ICE and said the agency’s officers have been “roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our kids.” 

It was not possible to obtain a recording of the full Jan. 21 news conference, although clips of it were available via a YouTube video posted by Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO. (CBS said via email that company policy prohibits it from sharing raw footage.) 

The chair of the school board, Mary Grunland, said during the Jan. 22 news conference that she witnessed the child being taken by ICE. She also accused ICE of using Ramos as “bait” (see 5:19): 

REPORTER: Are you accusing ICE of using children as bait? 

GRUNLAND: Yes. That is very clear from the pictures, from the videos, from the first-hand accounts. I was there. This is what happened. 

Grunland also said she heard an adult who lived in the home telling ICE officers, “I will take the child,” and other adults saying the school could take the child. 

“There was ample opportunity to be able to safely hand that child off to adults,” she said. 

The father, she said, told the mother not to open the door due to the ICE agents. 

Here’s the full Jan. 22 news conference on the YouTube page of Telemundo English, a Spanish-language television network: 

DHS claims father fled, ‘abandoning’ child 

In a Jan. 22 statement sent via email, DHS acknowledged that the child interacted with ICE but shared a very different version of events. Here’s the full statement from DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, which was also similar to a statement the agency posted on X (emphasis theirs): 

ICE did NOT target or arrest a child. On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration. As agents approached, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias fled on foot—abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias. Our officer’s made multiple attempts to get the alleged mother who was inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her she would NOT be taken her into custody. The alleged mother refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him.  

During this situation, agitators swarmed the scene and began yelling and blowing horns, scaring the child.

Our officers primary concern during the entire operation was the safety and welfare of the child. Following the mother’s abandonment of the child, officers abided by the father’s wishes to keep the child with him and even got the child McDonald’s and played his favorite music. Father and son are together at Dilley.

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 past administration’s immigration enforcement. Parents can take control of their departure and receive a free flight and $2,600 with the CBP Home app. By using the CBP Home app illegal aliens reserve the chance to come back the right legal way.

Stenvik, the superintendent, said during the Jan. 22 news conference that she heard, contrary to DHS’ claim, that the father was “handcuffed in the driveway.” She suggested that ICE officers release any body camera footage they might have to clear up what actually happened.

Snopes has not found any video footage of the arrest taken by bystanders but will update this report if we learn more.