Toddlers in Detention: America's ICE Crackdown Exposes Stark Divide with European Rights Standards
Federal agents have detained children as young as five in Minnesota, separating families and deploying thousands of troops against protesters. The EU's commitment to family unity in asylum cases offers a different model for democracies managing migration.
Federal immigration agents have detained children as young as five years old in Minnesota, separating families and sending them to detention centres in Texas, as the Trump administration's escalating crackdown sparks fierce resistance and raises questions about fundamental rights protections that distinguish European democracies from American enforcement practices.
Children in the Crosshairs
According to The Washington Post, a five-year-old boy named Liam Conejo Ramos was apprehended alongside his father in their driveway after returning from preschool on 20 January. The child and his father are now held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Centre in Texas, roughly 2,700 kilometres from their home.
MPR News reported that lawyers representing the family allege ICE agents used the child as "bait" to locate his father. In total, four children from Columbia Heights schools have been detained in recent weeks, including a 10-year-old girl who called her father to say agents were bringing her to school, only to be transported to Texas by the end of the school day.
The detentions have occurred near medical facilities, schools, and residential areas. Social media posts documented ICE detaining a 15-year-old and 16-year-old brother and sister outside a Minneapolis clinic, with community members attempting to intervene.
A Militarised Response
The Trump administration has deployed an unprecedented federal force to the Twin Cities. According to Democracy Now, nearly 3,000 federal immigration officers are now operating in the region, nearly five times the number of Minneapolis police officers.
The Pentagon has placed 1,500 soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division on standby for potential deployment, following the President's threat to invoke the Insurrection Act against protesters. NPR reported that the administration's ICE force has doubled in recent months to over 22,000 agents, tasked with reaching a daily detention goal of 100,000 people.
The escalation follows the 7 January shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by an ICE agent in a Minneapolis suburb. Bruce Springsteen dedicated a performance to her memory, criticising what he called "Gestapo tactics" and stating that "ICE should get the f--- out of Minneapolis," according to Variety.
Community Resistance and Health Consequences
Resistance has spread across Minnesota. Community members have followed immigration officers, honked horns, and attempted to document arrests. The State of Minnesota, along with Minneapolis and St. Paul, has filed a lawsuit alleging ICE agents have violated residents' civil liberties.
The health consequences are mounting. According to CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota, residents are delaying essential medical care for fear of encountering ICE. A Rochester mother cancelled two routine checkups for her newborn, born 2 January, rather than risk detention.
NPR reported that pediatricians are seeing children experiencing emotional outbursts, developmental regression, and severe anxiety. Dr. Razaan Byrne, a Minneapolis pediatrician, said every patient she saw recently required discussion of trauma stemming from ICE presence in communities.
The European Contrast
The EU's approach to immigration enforcement differs fundamentally from the American model. According to the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, while some member states do detain migrant children, EU law mandates that asylum-seeking families should be kept united as much as possible. Children are not separated from parents as a matter of policy.
Article 12 of the EU Reception Conditions Directive requires member states to "take appropriate measures to maintain, as far as possible, family unity" when providing housing to asylum seekers. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on EU member states to explicitly prohibit immigration detention of children in national legislation.
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, entering full application in June 2026, establishes a solidarity mechanism among member states while maintaining protections in accordance with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the non-refoulement principle. The approach contrasts with America's policy of separating children from parents and transporting them thousands of kilometres to detention facilities.
European courts have ruled against detention practices that separate families. In the R.R. and Others v. Hungary case, the European Court of Human Rights found that confining an Afghan family with children for months amounted to inhuman treatment and unlawful detention.
What Comes Next
Al Jazeera reported that public opinion on ICE is shifting, with advocates warning the country has reached an "inflection point." Nationwide protests have drawn thousands, with a "Free America Walkout" held on the anniversary of Trump's second inauguration.
The Justice Department has opened investigations into Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz for alleged conspiracy to impede immigration enforcement. The department said it would not investigate the killing of Renee Good.
For Europe, the American enforcement model serves as a warning. As Bannon's rhetoric about Canada shows, no ally appears safe from American pressure tactics. The EU's rights-based approach to asylum, however imperfect, offers a different vision of how democracies can manage migration without destroying families or deploying military force against their own communities.
January 22, 2026