In a heated response to recent allegations, Vice President JD Vance addressed claims surrounding the arrest of a young boy by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis. The incident has fueled backlash against the Trump administration’s immigration policies after images of the child circulated widely on social media. Vance, who is also a father of a five-year-old, expressed initial concern over the report. However, he clarified that the child had been left alone by his father, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador, who entered the United States during Joe Biden’s presidency. “The five-year-old was not arrested,” Vance stated. “His father was an illegal alien, and when they went to arrest him, he ran.”

Vance’s comments came during a press briefing after a roundtable discussion in Minneapolis, aimed at addressing the confusion surrounding ICE’s actions in the wake of the recent shooting of protester Renee Good on January 7. The vice president emphasized that ICE agents were left with no alternative but to care for the abandoned child. “What else could they do? Leave the child to fend for himself in the cold?” he questioned. “Failing to arrest someone for being in the country illegally just because they have children is not a viable solution,” Vance argued, emphasizing the necessity of enforcing immigration laws.

He further elaborated, “If we can’t detain individuals who have broken the law simply because they are parents, then no parent will ever face law enforcement consequences.” The Trump administration faced severe criticism after the images of the young boy in ICE custody went viral. Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar condemned the incident, describing it as “absolutely vile.” In response, ICE officials were quick to provide context for the situation, aiming to quell the rising tide of public outrage.

The child’s father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias was an illegal alien from Ecuador who had been released into the United States by Joe Biden, according to the agency. ‘As agents approached the driver Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot – abandoning his child,’ the DHS wrote on X. ‘For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias. ‘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 the past administration’s immigration enforcement.

They also reminded illegal migrants that they could self-deport using an app. School superintendent Zena Stenvik claimed several students have been detained by ICE, KARE 11 reported. ‘Why detain a 5-year-old? You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,’ Stenvik said. Tensions in the state have risen since an ICE agent shot and killed37-year-old Minneapolis woman Renee Nicole Good earlier this month amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deployed nearly 3,000 agents to Minnesota as part of its ‘largest immigration operation ever.’

Stenvik claimed that ICE agents used Ramos to try to lure other adults out of the home. ‘Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let him take care of the small child, and was refused,’ Stenvik said. ‘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.’ According to a GoFundMefor the family, Ramos and Arias were taken to an ICE facility in Texas. Ramos’s teacher, Ella Sullivan, described him as a ‘bright young student’. ‘He’s so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him, and all I want is for him to be safe and back here,’ she said. The family’s immigration lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said the family is seeking asylum and has been following the law throughout the process.

At the press conference, Stenvik said that three other students have been detained by federal agents in recent weeks. In one instance, Stenvik claimed a 10-year-old girl was apprehended with her mother while on her way to class. ‘During the arrest, the child called her father on the phone to tell him that ICE agents were bringing her to school. The father immediately came to the school to find that both his daughter and wife had been taken,’ Stenvik said. ‘By the end of the school day, they were already in a detention center in Texas, and they are still there.’ Stenvik also said that a 17-year-old student was detained when ‘ICE agents pushed their way into an apartment’. ‘ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our children,’ Stenvik said. ‘The sense of safety in our community and around our schools is shaken and our hearts are shattered.’