‘Enough is enough’: ICE agents take 2-year-old and father into custody in Minneapolis

ICE agents take 2-year-old and father into custody in Minneapolis

• Protests erupt in Minneapolis over child detention and fatal federal shooting
• A two-year-old girl was briefly detained; her father remains in federal custody
• Operation Metro Surge deploys 3,000 immigration agents, leading to mass arrests.

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Minneapolis has emerged as a flashpoint in the U.S. immigration debate following two incidents this month, the brief detention of a two-year-old girl and the fatal shooting of a local man by federal agents, triggering protests, legal challenges, and political backlash.

On January 22, immigration authorities detained two-year-old Chloe Renata Tipan Villacis along with her father, Elvis Joel Tipan-Echeverria, as they were returning from a grocery store in south Minneapolis, according to city officials. The incident drew sharp criticism from local leaders, and a judge ordered the child’s release later that evening after her family filed an emergency petition. Tipan-Echeverria remains in federal custody.

Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez brought attention to the incident through an Instagram post, alleging misconduct during the arrest.

“A suspicious vehicle followed her father’s vehicle, broke his window and kidnapped them. No judicial warrant was provided,” he wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the detention, stating that Tipan-Echeverria is “an illegal immigrant from Ecuador who committed felony reentry and broke the laws of this nation.” DHS said he was driving with a child when agents attempted to take him into custody and claimed he refused to comply with “multiple lawful commands.”

According to DHS, officers attempted to hand the child over to her mother, who was present at the scene but “refused” to take responsibility. The agency said the child was later reunited with her father at a federal facility. The mother could not be immediately reached for comment.

DHS also said that during the arrest, nearly 120 bystanders surrounded agents, throwing rocks and garbage cans, forcing authorities to deploy crowd-control measures.

The controversy intensified days later when a federal immigration officer fatally shot Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident, during an attempted detention. Pretti, identified by his family, was a U.S. citizen and worked as an intensive care nurse, according to the Associated Press.

The shooting sparked protests in multiple U.S. cities, including Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, with demonstrators clashing with immigration officials. Several lawmakers have since condemned ICE’s actions.

The incidents come amid a wider immigration crackdown in Minnesota under Operation Metro Surge, which has seen more than 3,000 federal immigration personnel deployed to the state since December. DHS said around 3,000 people unlawfully present in the country have been apprehended in recent weeks.

Federal authorities were sent to the region following viral allegations of large-scale fraud at child-care centres linked to members of Minnesota’s Somali community, claims that remain under investigation by the Justice Department.