Kamala Harris 'outraged' over 5-year-old's detention by ICE agents: 'Just a baby'

Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and his family moved to US in 2024 and is seeking asylum. (Image: X/Kamala Harris)

A five-year-old Ecuadorean boy, who had just returned home from preschool, was detained by ICE agents in Minnesota as US President Donald Trump-led administration's fierce crackdown on immigrants continues.

Former US Vice President Kamala Harris slammed the Donald Trump-led administration over the detention of Liam Conejo Ramos, moments after he had returned home from preschool.

Liam, an Ecuadorean, who along with his parents is awaiting asylum in the US, was detained and sent to an immigration lock-up in Texas on Tuesday. Visuals on social media showed the boy, wearing a blue hat and a Spider-Man backpack, visibly scared as masked and armed ICE agents grabbed him and put him inside an SUV before speeding away.

The boy and his father have been living in the US legally as asylum applicants, an attorney representing the family told the news agency Reuters.

Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump, fumed at the actions of the ICE agents, saying Liam was only a baby. "Liam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center. I am outraged, and you should be too," she posted on X.

Liam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center. I am outraged, and you should be too. pic.twitter.com/djr2z1AG0N

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 22, 2026

When asked if he is proud of how the Trump administration is carrying out a crackdown on immigrants, Vice President JD Vance said he is "proud of enforcing the country's laws."

Talking specifically about the schoolboy, Vance said he is the father of a five-year-old and thought to himself: "Oh my god. This is terrible. How did we arrest a five-year-old?"

.@VP: "I do a little bit more follow-up research, and what I find is that the 5-year-old was not arrested, that his dad was an illegal alien, and when they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father RAN... Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death?" https://t.co/wyOXeMhWItpic.twitter.com/b9xQtmgFtR — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 22, 2026

Vance clarified that the boy was only detained, not arrested. "I do a little bit more follow-up research, and what I find is that the 5-year-old was not arrested, that his dad was an illegal alien, and when they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran... Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the US," Vance said.

'Did not target a child'

In a statement on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the Department of Homeland Security said, "ICE did NOT target a child. The child was ABANDONED."

The ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, "an illegal alien from Ecuador who was released into the US by the Biden administration."

According to the ICE, Adrian Alexander, the father of a five-year-old, fled on foot, abandoning his child as soon as immigration agents approached him. "For the child's safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias," the Department said.

However, there's another version to this. According to Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik, Federal agents took Liam from a running car in the family's driveway. The officers told him to knock on the door to his home to see if other people were inside, "essentially using a five-year-old as bait," she said.

The father told the child's mother, who was inside the home and has not been named, not to open the door, Stenvik told reporters. This was likely to avoid another detention.

The family, who came to the US in 2024, has an active asylum case and had not been ordered to leave the country, Stenvik said.

Liam is the fourth child to be detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in recent weeks, sparking a row over US President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrants.