There have been conflicting reports about what happened during the ICE operation where 5-year-old Ramos was first approached by ICE agents.
Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools where Ramos went to school, said at a press conference that the boy had just arrived home from pre-school.
An agent asked the child to knock on the door of the home to see if anyone else was there, school officials said.
Stenvik said another adult living in the home asked to take the young boy inside, but was refused.
School board member Mary Granlund said she was on the scene and told immigration officials she could take Liam Ramos, but they still detained him.
In a post on X, ICE denied the child had been detained.
“A criminal illegal alien ABANDONED his child as he fled from ICE officers, and our officers ensured the child was kept SAFE in the bitter cold,” the agency said.
“ICE made multiple attempts to get the family inside the house to take custody of the child. They refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him,” the agency said.
Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the family, said the father and son “did everything right” when they came into the country from Ecuador in 2024.
They entered the US at a port of entry to seek asylum, they used the CBP One app, they made an appointment, they presented themselves to Customs and Border Patrol, and they have shared all their information with the government, Prokosch said.
“This family was not eluding ICE in any way. They were following all the established protocols pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings and pose no safety, no flight risk, and never should have been detained,” Prokosch added.
Photos provided to the BBC by the school district at the time – now seen nationwide – show a boy, identified as Liam Ramos, outside bundled up, wearing a Spiderman backpack and a blue bunny-shaped beanie, as an ICE officer holds onto his backpack.
US Vice-President JD Vance told reporters ICE had no choice because “the father ran”.
DHS has said it is arresting the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in an effort to restore public safety in Minnesota.
Dubbed Operation Metro Surge, the immigration enforcement initiative there has sparked outcry from residents in Minneapolis, St Paul and other cities in the state.
Wednesday’s march in Texas comes as protests continue around the country after federal agents killed two US citizens in Minneapolis amid the operation there.