Minneapolis, Jan 25: A 2-year-old was taken into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Thursday in Minneapolis. The child was with her father when they were detained, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said, according to a report by NBC News.
They were flown to Texas despite a court order requiring the toddler’s immediate release, CNN reported. “The child is out of detention as of this afternoon and recovering from this horrific ordeal,” the family’s attorney, Kira Kelley, told the publication on Friday.
Elvis Joel Tipan-Echeverria and his 2-year-old daughter, Chloe Renata Tipan Villacis, were detained and taken to South Minneapolis while they were on the way back home from the grocery store.
Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez wrote on Instagram, “A suspicious vehicle followed her father’s vehicle home, broke his window and kidnapped them. No judicial warrant was provided.”
The DHS said that Tipan-Echeverria was driving “erratically” with a child and is “an illegal immigrant from Ecuador who committed felony reentry and broke the laws of this nation.” The spokesperson also said that the DHS took care of the child “who the mother would not take”. The father and child were reunited at the federal facility, they added.
According to the DHS, Tipan-Echeverria refused to open his car door or lower his window, despite lawful commands. “Agents took Tipan-Echeverria into custody and attempted to give the child to the mother who was in the area, but she refused,” the spokesperson said.
A crowd of about 120 surrounded the ICE agents and blocked them from exiting. They threw rocks and garbage cans towards the agents and the toddler before crowd control measures could be taken.
Chloe is the fifth child to be detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in recent weeks, sparking a row over US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.
