US Vice-President JD Vance on Thursday defended the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for detaining a five-year-old child in Minnesota amid intensified immigration enforcement raids in the region.
School officials and the child’s family lawyer said the boy was arriving home from pre-school when he was detained by federal agents, along with his father, who is alleged to be an undocumented immigrant. The father and his child were reportedly taken to a detention facility in Texas.
The boy is the fourth child from his Minneapolis suburb to be detained by ICE in recent weeks, the Washington Post reported.
What did Vance say?
Vance defended ICE agents who detained the boy.
“When they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran,” Vance said. “So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death?” he added.
‘The boy’s family was not eluding ICE, he was used as bait’
School officials accused ICE of using the boy as “bait,” adding that the family had an active asylum case and has not been ordered to leave the country.
The minor’s lawyer also denied ICE’s accusations. “This family was not eluding ICE in any way,” the lawyer, identified as Marc Prokosch, said.
“They were following all the established protocols, pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings, and posed no safety, no flight risk, and never should have been detained,” he added.
Prokosch also denied Vance’s claims that the family were “illegal aliens.” “They came properly, they came legally and they were pursuing a legal pathway,” he said.
Homeland Security defends operation in Minneapolis
The spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended detaining the father in a statement, saying one of the ICE officers remained with the child for the child’s safety while other officers apprehended the father.
ICE policy states that arresting officers should allow a parent to make arrangements for their child’s care. It is unclear if officers did the same in this situation, according to DW.