Federal agents used 5 year-old boy 'as bait' after detaining him: report

Federal agents operating in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area are now under heightened scrutiny from the community over their detaining of children, according to a new report.

Minneapolis-based NBC affiliate KARE reported Wednesday that five year-old Liam Ramos and his father are now likely being held in a federal detention facility in Texas after being apprehended at their home in Minnesota earlier this week. Ramos was reportedly detained while on his way home from preschool with his father.

CBS affiliate WCCO reported that agents surrounded Ramos and his father after they pulled into their driveway.

"School officials say the child was used as bait," WCCO reporter Reg Chapman said. "They say agents made little Liam knock on the door to ask to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home."

"Why detain a five year-old?" Columbia Heights School Superintendent Zena Stenvik said. "You can't tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have already detained three other children in the past two weeks.

According to KARE, an unnamed 17 year-old walking alone in Columbia Heights was taken by ICE agents. Another 17 year-old student and their mother were taken, as well as a 10 year-old student and her mother.

"ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our children," Stenvik said. "The sense of safety in our community and around our schools is shaken and our hearts are shattered."