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🏫➡️🧊👨‍👩‍👧‍👦💔 ‘They are circling our schools,’ superintendent says after 5-year-old detained by ICE

🤖 AI Summary

  • 👦 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Liam Ramos, a five-year-old preschooler, in his driveway immediately after he arrived home from school.
  • ⚖️ A federal lawsuit against the administration alleges that detention facilities provide inadequate medical care and contaminated food to those in custody.
  • 🔫 Armed and masked agents swarmed the family home and driveway, creating a high-intensity environment with eight agents present.
  • 🚪 Local reports indicate agents in the Twin Cities are forcibly entering apartments by breaking down doors to apprehend residents.
  • 🏫 Public schools must educate all children regardless of legal status and are prohibited by law from inquiring about citizenship during enrollment.
  • 🏫 Federal agents are actively circling school buildings, stationed at bus stops, following school buses, and entering school property.
  • 💻 Intense fear has forced families to switch to online learning to keep children away from enforcement activity in the community.
  • 🇺🇸 Documented residents and U.S. citizens are living in fear due to reports of agents mistakenly apprehending legal residents.

🤔 Evaluation

  • 🏛️ The U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe (1982), as documented by the Oyez Project, remains the legal foundation ensuring that states cannot deny students a free public education based on their immigration status.
  • 📋 While the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) highlights that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy traditionally designated schools as protected areas, the administration officially rescinded these sensitive location protections in January 2025, according to reporting from Fisher Phillips.
  • 🛡️ Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a federal lawsuit in January 2026 alleging that the Operation Metro Surge deployment of thousands of agents violates the Tenth Amendment by interfering with state policing and school operations, as detailed in an official release from the City of Minneapolis.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

🧒 Q: What are the specific details regarding the detention of 5-year-old Liam Ramos in Minnesota?

🧒 A: Liam Ramos, a preschool student in the Columbia Heights school district, was detained by ICE agents in his own driveway on January 20, 2026, shortly after returning home from school; despite local residents offering to take custody of the child, federal agents transported him and his father to a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas.

🏫 Q: Are federal immigration agents legally permitted to conduct enforcement actions on school property or at bus stops?

🏫 A: Following the rescinding of protected areas guidelines in early 2025, federal agents have been reported circling schools and following buses; however, legal experts from the ACLU of Pennsylvania note that schools generally require a judicial warrant signed by a judge, rather than a self-issued administrative warrant, to allow agents access to non-public areas of a campus.

📜 Q: Do public school districts in the United States have a legal obligation to check the immigration status of enrolling students?

📜 A: No, under the 1982 Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe, public schools are prohibited from denying enrollment based on immigration status and are legally barred from asking for documentation regarding a student’s legal standing during the registration process.

🏠 Q: How has the recent surge in immigration enforcement affected student attendance and school operations in the Twin Cities?

🏠 A: The enforcement surge, known as Operation Metro Surge, has caused student attendance to drop by over 30% in some districts as families transition to remote learning out of fear; in response, school districts like Columbia Heights and Minneapolis have expanded online options and increased staff presence at bus stops to ensure child safety.

📚 Book Recommendations

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🆚 Contrasting

  • 📖 Exceptional People by Ian Goldin argues for the necessity of organized migration systems and explores the long-term economic advantages of global labor mobility.
  • 📖 Border Wars by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear documents the internal political maneuvers and policy shifts that led to increased federal enforcement measures at the U.S. border.

🎨 Creatively Related

  • 📖 Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario narrates the true story of a boy traveling from Central America to the United States to reunite with his mother, highlighting the personal stakes of migration.
  • 📖 Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli uses the structure of the forty questions asked of undocumented children in court to explore the complexities of the immigration system.

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