In a shocking turn of events, a 2-year-old girl was taken into custody by ICE alongside her father on Thursday in Minneapolis and was subsequently transported to Texas. Fortunately, she was reunited with her mother just the following afternoon, as reported by the family's attorney.
This child's transfer occurred despite a court mandate for her immediate release, as detailed in an affidavit submitted by the family's legal representative. Elvis Tipan-Echeverria, the child's father, remains in custody, according to Kira Kelley, the family's attorney who spoke to CNN on Friday evening.
Both the father and daughter were on the same flight back to Minnesota later that day, Kelley confirmed. "The child is no longer in detention as of this afternoon and is now recovering from this traumatic experience," she stated.
Initially, the father and daughter were detained at a federal facility in Minneapolis after agents executed a targeted operation aimed at their vehicle, a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) disclosed. The family attorneys identified this facility as the Whipple Federal Building, a site that has recently become infamous for confrontations between agents and protesters following the death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good earlier this month.
The father, along with his daughter, referred to in legal documents as C.R.T.V., are Ecuadorian citizens. The little girl has lived in Minneapolis since she was born and currently has an asylum application pending.
This incident unfolds amid rising public outrage regarding federal agents' actions, particularly highlighted by the recent abduction of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos from his home in Minneapolis during the ongoing immigration crackdown under the Trump administration. Liam was also put on a plane to a family detention center in Texas, where he remains with his father.
During the interaction with Tipan-Echeverria and his daughter, DHS claimed the father was driving erratically with the child present in the vehicle. When agents attempted to detain him, he parked the car but allegedly refused multiple lawful orders to comply with their requests to open the door or lower the window.
According to the affidavit, ICE agents approached the family without a warrant while they were inside their vehicle after returning home from a shopping trip. One agent reportedly shattered the glass of Tipan-Echeverria's car window while the toddler was present, further intensifying the situation before both the father and daughter exited the car.
CNN has reached out to the DHS to clarify the circumstances surrounding the removal of the father and daughter to Texas, especially concerning the assertion that agents acted without a warrant.
Footage captured during the incident shows bystanders confronting armed and masked federal agents, with one individual shouting, "They were carrying a child in that!" This remark appeared to refer to the federal vehicle involved.
As federal agents deployed what seemed to be a chemical agent to control the crowd, protestors continued to yell at them, urging for help. Approximately 120 individuals surrounded the agents, effectively blocking their exit during the arrest, as stated by DHS. They further claimed that some agitators in the crowd began throwing rocks and garbage cans towards the agents and the child, prompting the use of crowd control measures to clear the area safely.
DHS emphasized that obstructing law enforcement and attacking officers constitutes a felony and is a federal crime.
Furthermore, there's a claim from DHS that the mother was offered the chance to take custody of the child but declined. They stated that federal agents cared for the child until she could be reunited with her father at a federal facility. However, the family lawyer contends that the mother was nearby, calling out to her husband, and attempted to take the child, but was barred by ICE agents. The affidavit describes how, upon seeing the agents approaching, the mother retreated indoors, filled with fear. This led to the father and child being placed in the back of an ICE vehicle, which did not have a car seat for the toddler.
The claims made by DHS about the mother rejecting custody mirror previous statements made regarding Liam's mother, alleging she also refused custody of her child. Yet, support from Pastor Sergio Amezcua, who is assisting Liam's mother, indicates that she was terrified of the agents outside her home.
Attorneys for Tipan-Echeverria and his daughter asserted that the mother has no criminal record, formally requesting the immediate release of the toddler from federal custody to Kelley, who had arranged a notarized delegation of parental authority.
The court approved this petition to swiftly release the child, temporarily transferring custody to the attorney to facilitate retrieving her from immigration detention by 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, as specified in the court documents.
The court ruling deemed the potential for irreparable harm too significant to justify keeping the child in custody given the circumstances outlined in the pleadings.
Remarkably, the father and daughter were already aboard a flight to Texas by 8:30 p.m. that same Thursday, even though the court order issued at 8:11 p.m. explicitly prohibited their removal from Minnesota, as noted by the family's attorney in the affidavit.
Following this, the agency communicated to the family’s attorney that they would return the child to Minnesota the next day, according to the affidavit. Kelley reported having been unable to contact her clients since their apprehension.
Additionally, a federal court order has prevented ICE from relocating the father outside of Minnesota while the legal proceedings are ongoing, as stated by Kelley.
