BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON | JAN 28, 2026
Little 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father are back home in Minneapolis today after a judge’s order and a flight back from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Dilley, Texas.
Liam was taken from his father in the driveway of their home when he was brought home from preschool and loaded into an ICE van for what must have been a frightening flight to Texas. Any parent would get chills looking at the photos of the little tyke in his knit bunny cap. It was heartbreaking and it captured the nation’s attention.
But is not the only child to be taken into custody and shipped off to detention.
“Over the past four months, the average number of people, including children and adults, held each month in family detention has nearly tripled, from 425 in October to 1,304 in January, according to Department of Homeland Security data. An independent analysis by the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization, concluded that “at least 3,800 people under 18, including 20 infants, were detained in 2025.” This is according to the Washington Post, which also reported on the detention of a 2-year-old and her father days after Liam was taken.
Watching the tragedy in Minneapolis unfold has been draining, sorrowfully so.
Liam’s abduction moved the needle of public discontent and deep anxiety in Minneapolis further into the red zone after the killing of protestor Renee Good. The further movement of the needle by the death of Alex Pretti, who was apparently shot in the back in a struggle with ICE agents days later, shattered the glass.