SHOCKING CRUELTY: ICE age;;nts SN;;ATC;;H five-ye;ar-o;;ld boy and dad on pre;school run – before using terrified ch;;;ild as ‘HUMAN BAIT’ to lure in his relatives

A 5-year-old boy has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota.

Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were detained in their driveway after returning home from the child’s preschool, according to The Guardian, The Washington Post and local outlet Fox 9, which cited the Columbia Heights Public School District.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which ICE is classified under, told the Post, that Liam’s father fled on foot when agents approached him and eventually apprehended him.

After his father had been detained, ICE agents allegedly asked Liam to knock on the door to his home to see if any other people were inside, “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait,”  the outlets said, citing Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik.

Stenvik said, per The Guardian and the Post, that another adult living in the home had been outside during the incident and had “begged” agents to leave the 5-year-old with them, but the agents refused and transported the pair to a Texas detention center.

“As agents approached the driver Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot—abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias,” DHS said in a statement to PEOPLE and on X.

DHS added that it was not targeting the child and that it is part of ICE’s policy to ask parents if they want to be removed with their children. They noted that if they aren’t removed together, the children will be left with a safe person designated by a parent.

The Post said that it was unclear why Liam wasn’t left under the care of the adult that allegedly asked to take care of the child.

Liam’s older brother, a middle school student, returned home 20 minutes later to find his father and little brother missing, the Columbia Heights Public Schools told the outlets.

The family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, told The Guardian that Liam and his father were not U.S. citizens but had been seeking asylum in the U.S. and had an active case. He also noted that they arrived in the U.S. through an official point of entry.

“The family did everything they were supposed to in accordance with how the rules have been set out,” he said, per The Guardian. “They did not come here illegally. They are not criminals.”

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He added, per the Post, that the family “have been following the legal process perfectly, from presenting themselves at the border to applying for asylum and waiting for the process to go through.”

Stenvik echoed similar sentiments, saying in a statement to the Post, Guardian and Fox 9, “This family is following U.S. legal parameters and has an active asylum case with no order of deportation. I have viewed the legal paperwork with my own eyes.”

“Why detain a 5-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” she added.

Columbia Heights Public School District and Prokosch did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.

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Three other students in Columbia Heights, including a 17-year-old and 10-year-old, were detained by ICE this month, according to the school district, per the outlets.

Stenvik claimed, per the Post and The Guardian, that the 17-year-old was removed from their car by “armed and masked agents” that were believed to be ICE and detained without their parents present last week.

Prior to that a 10-year-old was allegedly detained by ICE agents with her mother while on their way to the elementary school, Stenvik said, per the outlets. The 10-year-old reportedly called her father and said the ICE agents would bring her to school and when he arrived there, he found that they had both been taken.