Minnesota school shocked as immigration officers detain five-year-old boy
Vance said he heard a heartbreaking story in Minneapolis, later clarifying the child was detained briefly, not formally arrested.
A five-year-old boy returning home from pre-school in Minnesota was taken into federal custody along with his father and transported to a detention facility in Texas, according to school officials and the family’s lawyer. The incident has sent shockwaves through the local community, where it marks the fourth case in recent weeks of a student from the same Minneapolis-area suburb being detained by immigration officers.
The child was detained Tuesday afternoon, January 20, 2026, as he arrived home in a car with his father. According to Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik, federal agents approached the vehicle while it was still running in the family’s driveway. Speaking to reporters the following day, Stenvik said officers instructed the young boy to get out of the car and knock on the front door of his home to see if anyone else was inside.
She described the action as deeply troubling, saying authorities were “essentially using a five-year-old as bait” during the operation.
Inside the home was the boy’s mother, who has not been publicly identified. Stenvik said the father, aware of what was unfolding, told her not to open the door. Despite this, both the father and child were taken into custody and later transferred out of state.
School officials said they pleaded with agents to leave the child with another adult who lives at the home or with a representative from the school district. Those requests, they said, were refused. The decision to remove the child along with his father sparked immediate concern among educators and parents, who questioned why such a young child needed to be detained at all.
On Thursday, January 22, the Department of Homeland Security offered a different account. In a statement posted online, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the father requested that his son remain with him rather than be separated. According to the agency, both are now together at an immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas.
The conflicting accounts have done little to ease anxiety in the community. Parents and school staff say fear has been growing as immigration enforcement actions increasingly intersect with school-aged children and their families. The district confirmed that three other students from the same suburb have been detained by immigration officers in recent weeks, further heightening alarm.
Local leaders and advocates have called for clarity, accountability, and restraint, especially when children are involved. For many families, the incident has underscored a sense of vulnerability — that even the routine act of coming home from school can suddenly turn into a life-altering event.