Ms. Rachel Speaks Out After ICE Detains Five-Year-Old Latino Child Liam Ramos During Father’s Arrest

Ms. Rachel Speaks Out After ICE Detains Five-Year-Old Latino Child Liam Ramos During Father’s Arrest
Credit: Instagram/ @msrachelforlittles (screenshot)

A children’s educator known to millions of families for teaching toddlers how to speak their first words is now speaking about a five-year-old boy who disappeared from his classroom. Ms. Rachel, the creator of Songs for Littles, reacted publicly this week after federal immigration agents detained Liam Conejo Ramos and his father outside their home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, shortly after the child returned from preschool, according to local school officials and reporting by The Guardian.

Liam, a Latino child, and his father, an Ecuadorian national with an active asylum case, were taken into custody in their driveway and later transferred to a detention center in Texas. The arrest has intensified concern across Latino communities already facing increased immigration operations near schools and residential neighborhoods, with families questioning how enforcement actions are reaching children too young to understand what is happening to them.

What Happened Outside Liam Ramos’ Home

School district officials said the arrest took place as Liam and his father arrived home after school. Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights school district, told the British newspaper that one of the agents instructed the child to walk to the front door and knock in order to see who else might be inside.

She described the moment as federal officers placing responsibility on a preschooler during an active enforcement operation.

The boy and his father were taken into custody at the scene and later transported to Texas, where they remain detained. The family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, said both have an active asylum case and entered the United States legally through an official port of entry.

He said the family followed required procedures, did not cross the border unlawfully, and does not have a criminal record.

One of Liam’s teachers, Ella Sullivan, described him during a press conference as a consistent student who rarely missed class and brought warmth to the classroom. She said his classmates have not yet asked why he has not returned, though staff expect questions soon.

Ms. Rachel Centers the Case on Children

As details spread, public figures began weighing in, including Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, a former preschool teacher and one of the most widely followed early childhood educators online.

In a message shared on social media, she focused on Liam as a child rather than as part of a legal dispute.

“Liam Ramos and his father should be with their family. As a mom I can’t image my 5 year old away from me. Look at this sweet boy.

It’s horrifying to think of this precious child ripped from his home and put in a detention center. His classmates are traumatized to see their friend suddenly disappear.

We must lead with compassion and keep families together. The children are watching. The children are scared. All children must be cherished and protected.”

Accurso built her platform creating educational videos centered on language development and early childhood stability, first for her own son and later for families navigating speech delays during the pandemic.

Her message stood out for centering Liam as a child first. She framed the arrest as an issue of family separation and child protection, speaking as both a mother and an educator whose work focuses on early childhood well being.

Her post added a widely recognized voice to the public conversation surrounding the case, drawing attention to the impact immigration enforcement can have on children.

What Federal Authorities Had to Say

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that agents were seeking to arrest the father and said the child was not the intended target. Officials described the parent as lacking legal status and said he ran from officers, leaving his son behind during the encounter.

According to the department, one agent remained with the child while others completed the arrest.

In a message posted on the agency’s official account on X, DHS said parents are given a choice between leaving the country with their children or designating a trusted adult to take custody of them. The department said this practice follows existing immigration procedures and promoted its voluntary departure program, which offers financial assistance and flights to families who choose to leave.

The agency stated that the program provides 2,600 dollars and allows parents to manage the timing of their departure and receive transportation back to their country of birth.

School officials and the family’s attorney dispute key parts of the federal account, including the suggestion that the father abandoned his child during the arrest.

Why Latino Families See Themselves in This Case

Latinos represent the second largest demographic group in the United States and form a significant part of the workforce, consumer spending, and small business ownership in cities like Minneapolis and across the country.

Community leaders say cases involving children deepen long standing concerns that immigration enforcement falls hardest on Latino and brown families, including those pursuing legal asylum claims or raising children who attend local schools.

Parents in Columbia Heights said many families now hesitate to send their children to school or carry out daily routines, worried that an ordinary afternoon could end in separation.

Advocates argue that many undocumented immigrants work steadily, pay taxes, and support their communities, and that enforcement should focus on serious criminal activity rather than families returning from preschool.

For Liam’s classmates, his absence remains unexplained. For his parents, childhood now continues behind the walls of a detention center hundreds of miles away. For Latino families watching closely, his case has become another measure of how immigration policy reaches into classrooms, driveways, and the lives of children who have not yet learned how to read, much less how to defend themselves.

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