'They are circling our schools,' superintendent says after 5-year-old detained by ICE

Geoff Bennett:

As we've seen, the ICE operations in the Twin Cities are also affecting children who are caught up in the surge of personnel and detentions.

Our Liz Landers joins us now with that part of the story -- Liz.

Liz Landers:

Thanks, Geoff.

The 5-year-old boy Liam that Fred mentioned in his report was a student in the Columbia Heights School District.

Superintendent Zena Stenvik joins me now.

Zena, thank you so much for joining "News Hour" this evening.

What is your understanding of what happened to Liam when he was detained earlier this week?

Zena Stenvik, Superintendent, Columbia Heights Public School District:

My understanding is that there were bystanders, community members, school officials, and another adult who actually lives in the home asking to keep Liam, that they would take Liam, that they would take care of him and get him safely to family members, and that they -- that didn't happen.

They weren't allowed to do that. And, instead, he was pretty quickly, within hours, flown to Texas to a detention center.

Liz Landers:

The Homeland Security Department is giving a different version of what happened when he was detained. A spokeswoman claims that Liam was abandoned by his family and his mother refused to take custody of him when agents knocked on the door.

Here's Customs and Border Patrol official Greg Bovino when he was asked about this specific case earlier today.

Greg Bovino:

Some of you have had questions on the 5-year-old yesterday. That 5-year-old remains with his family. We say again he remains with his family. We know that. That false median narrative that was pushed out yesterday was -- well, it was false. He remains with his family.

Liz Landers:

He's now being held at a federal processing facility in Dilley, Texas, which you mentioned. And I will add that "News Hour" had a conversation about that facility earlier this week. There is contaminated food there. There's limited access to drinking water and inadequate medical care there, according to a lawsuit that's been filed.

What is your response to what the administration is saying?

Zena Stenvik:

He's in a detention center. A 5-year-old is being held in a detention center. I have a real problem with that. I know that his preschool classroom is a beautiful, wonderful environment. I have been in his home, where it was -- he has a backyard where he can play and build snowmen with his older brother.

And when I was in the home, there were plenty of toys around and just a really nice environment for a child to live in. It was a far cry from -- I just -- I hate to think about where -- what he's actually experiencing right now, what the conditions could possibly be, given the lawsuit that's out there.

As I mentioned, I was on scene. I was there shortly after Liam was taken. I have been in the home. I have talked to the mother. The people claiming that she abandoned her child is so far from the truth. We have to remember that she had another child on the way home from school. And we also have to remember that there were eight armed and masked agents swarming all around the house and the driveway and the car, so a very intense situation.

She was asked to not open the door by her husband, who was in the driveway in handcuffs, and just all around a tense situation. We have -- unfortunately, at this point now, for those of us living in the Twin Cities, it's very common knowledge that ICE agents are bursting through doors if you crack open the door a little bit.

They're bursting through into apartments, apprehending people. They're even breaking down doors and leaving broken doors or no doors now. So, opening the door with ICE agents looming, it's not as easy or as clean of a statement as one might suggest.

Liz Landers:

There are some conflicting reports about whether the family is here legally. Federal officials say that they are not, but a family attorney says that they are pursuing a legal asylum pathway.

Does that matter for education purposes in your school district?

Zena Stenvik:

No. I mean, there's federal case law. We are -- and under the Minnesota Constitution, we educate children regardless of legal status.

So when children enroll in our school district, we're actually not even allowed to ask their legal status. But I will tell you, as I mentioned, I was in the home and I saw the legal documentation with my own eyes.

Liz Landers:

There are a number of students that have been detained by ICE in your school district. How are you educating children right now in your community? How are you responding to this? How are parents responding to this in Minnesota right now?

Zena Stenvik:

I will tell you, there's really nothing normal about our daily lives at this point. The surge has been going on for a few weeks now, and it has really changed our standard operating procedures.

We have -- staff have been working around the clock and overtime walking children home. People have been donating different resources for us to get to the families. We do have an online option that families can select so that the children are learning from home.

But let me stress that that is not the best practice. That is not what we want. We want our children in school, in their classrooms, with their teachers and with their classmates, because we know that that's what's best for children. We all learned that during COVID.

But there's so much fear. And I'm not just talking about, so -- quote, unquote -- "illegal people." People who are here with legal documentation are fearful, as I think there have been many reports that ICE agents have taken citizens of the United States.

So there are very many ICE agents right now in our community. They are driving around our schools, circling our schools. I have seen it with my own eyes. They are at our bus stops following our buses, and they have been on my school property multiple times.

Liz Landers:

Zena Stenvik, thank you so much for joining the "News Hour."

Zena Stenvik:

Thank you.

Let's get our kids back.