ICE takes away 5-year-old boy and his father after using him as

Columbia Heights, Minnesota, school district officials say their sense of security is shaken and their hearts are broken after four district students were recently kidnapped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers..

The Columbia Heights Public School District says two children were abducted Tuesday, including a 17-year-old who was on his way to school. They pulled him out of his car and took him away.

Later in the afternoon, 5-year-old Liam Ramos was taken to his father while they were in the driveway after coming home from his preschool classroom. School officials say the boy was used as bait to knock on the door and ask to be let in, so officers would see if anyone else was home.

“Why detain a five-year-old child? You can’t tell me this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” Superintendent Zena Stenvik said.

The Department of Homeland Security later said that the boy was not targeted by ICE, but was “abandoned” by his father. They say his father fled from federal agents as they approached his vehicle, leaving the boy behind. DHS said the father, whom they described as an illegal alien from Ecuador, was later detained while other ICE agents stayed with the child.

School officials say there was an adult there who offered to take the child, but ICE wouldn’t allow it.

Federal officials said Thursday that the boy and his father are together at an immigration processing center in Dilley, Texas.

An attorney for the Ramos family, Marc Prokosch, and the school district deny that Liam was abandoned by his father.

Prokosch said Liam and his father entered the United States legally from Ecuador and that Liam’s father does not appear to have a criminal record.

The Ecuadorian government said its consulate in Minneapolis contacted ICE as soon as it learned that Liam was detained, adding that it is “monitoring the child’s situation to safeguard his safety and well-being.”

Two weeks ago, ICE agents took a 10-year-old fourth-grade student on her way to elementary school with her mother. During the arrest, the girl called her father on the phone to tell him that ICE agents would take her to school. The father then arrived at the school and discovered that his daughter and his wife had been taken.

School officials say both the children and their parents are being held at a detention center in Texas. They say Liam Ramos’ family is following US legal parameters and has an active asylum case without a deportation order.

School officials also said they don’t know what happened. They want the public to get involved as this is happening to students across the state of Minnesota.

“We ask that you contact your representative in Congress to request an immediate and peaceful resolution to this occupation,” Stenvik said. “Please help us and other schools return to being a safe place where everyone belongs and where everyone succeeds.”

The district also has an immigration attorney to help determine how to have students return to Minnesota.

Meanwhile, district officials say ICE continues to roam around your schools — keeping kids, parents and staff on edge.