Trump’s ICE Goons Captured a 5-Year-Old. Then JD Vance Made It Worse
Vice President J.D. Vance traveled to Minneapolis on Thursday in what was billed as an effort to “tone down the temperature” amid escalating protests and civil unrest over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics.
Yet his public comments on one of the most emotionally charged cases — the detention of 5-year-old Liam Kanejo Ramos and his father have drawn sharp criticism for putting a superficially reasonable face on what many describe as the administration’s increasingly authoritarian and uncompromising approach to asylum seekers and immigration enforcement.
The Ramos case quickly became a viral symbol of the human cost of the administration’s mass deportation program. Liam, wearing a Spiderman backpack at the time of his detention, and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were picked up under disputed circumstances.
The Department of Homeland Security claims the father fled from officers. Local witnesses and family members insist others in the household begged ICE agents to allow the child to remain with relatives, but both father and son were transported to a detention facility in Texas.
Vance sought to project empathy during his Minneapolis appearance: “I too have a 5-year-old, and I’d been moved by the story.” He acknowledged the emotional weight of separating a young child from family.
Yet he immediately pivoted to a hardline defense of the arrest: “Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America? If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who have violated our laws because they have children, then every single parent is going to be completely given immunity.”
Critics argue Vance’s framing is deliberately misleading. Ramos and his father have active asylum claims pending in the United States, and they entered the country legally through the now-terminated CBP One app under the previous administration. Their lawyer confirmed they were following lawful processes when detained.
“This family entered legally and followed the process the government asked them to,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. “They were here lawfully until the administration stripped away their status. Hundreds of thousands who entered with official permission are being smeared as illegal aliens and threatened with deportation.”
Vance’s repeated use of the term “illegal alien” to describe the father — despite the pending asylum claim reflects a core position of the Trump administration: individuals awaiting asylum adjudication are not legitimately present in the United States and can be deported to third countries before their claims are substantively reviewed.
This policy effectively voids asylum applications without merit hearings, a practice that has drawn condemnation from civil rights groups, international human rights organizations, and even some legal scholars as a violation of due process and U.S. treaty obligations.
Vance’s Minneapolis Visit Shows Empathy Without Policy Change
Vance’s trip was framed as a conciliatory gesture following weeks of violent clashes between protesters and ICE agents, the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, and multiple reports of excessive force. He acknowledged that many protesters are peaceful and defended the right to peaceful assembly. He even admitted that ICE officers “make mistakes sometimes.”
Q: A local school district is alleging ICE agents detained a 5 year old after preschool. Are you proud of how your administration is conducting this immigration crackdown?
JD VANCE: Well, I’m proud of the fact we’re standing behind law enforcement. The 5 year old was not… pic.twitter.com/VGmFlYpqCY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 22, 2026
Yet he quickly undercut these concessions by blaming those “mistakes” on the “duress” created by “a few very far-left agitators.”
Political scientist Don Moynihan has argued that this kind of blame-shifting contributes to a dangerous sense of impunity within federal law enforcement: “Experts on the formation of internal security services in authoritarian regimes point to a sense of impunity as a warning sign. Regime officials abuse their power when they know they will be protected, even praised, for doing so.”
Vance has previously taken similar positions. After the controversial removal of Kilmar Campos Garcia to El Salvador — a case heavily promoted by Stephen Miller — Vance offered superficial empathy while repeating administration talking points and downplaying the human cost.
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The Administration’s Asylum Policy Has A Deeper Problem
The Ramos case exposes a fundamental stance of the Trump-Vance administration: asylum seekers awaiting adjudication are treated as presumptively illegitimate. This has enabled thousands of deportations to third countries before claims can be heard, effectively nullifying the asylum process for many.
Critics argue this approach violates both U.S. law and international obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Supporters claim it closes “loopholes” that allow fraudulent claims and streamlines enforcement.
Vance’s earlier comments on Haitian migrants — dismissing many as “illegal” despite lawful humanitarian protections reflect the same view: programs granting legal entry or protection are illegitimate if the administration disapproves of them.
The Ramos family’s use of the CBP One app — a Biden-era tool allowing migrants to schedule legal entry and asylum appointments makes Vance’s position particularly critical. Even individuals who followed the government’s own lawful process are now labeled “illegal aliens” and subject to summary deportation.
Vance’s Minneapolis visit was intended to project reason and moderation amid chaos. Instead, his comments have been criticized as enabling further abuses by: Framing ICE misconduct as isolated “mistakes” rather than systemic issues, blaming protesters and “far-left agitators” for enforcement excesses and reinforcing the view that asylum seekers — even those who entered lawfully have no legitimate claim to remain in the U.S.
The administration faces mounting pressure such as nationwide protests over ICE tactics and the Good shooting, calls for independent investigations into use of force, legal challenges to third-country deportations and asylum policy changes and growing bipartisan concern over civil liberties and due process.
Vance’s role as the administration’s “reasonable” voice may appeal to some moderates, but his defense of controversial policies risks alienating them further as midterm elections approach. For families like Liam Ramos’s, the stakes are immediate and devastating — a young child separated from extended family and detained despite lawful entry.
Whether Vance’s empathy ever translates into meaningful policy change remains to be seen. Until he explicitly condemns excessive force, calls for real accountability, and acknowledges the legitimacy of lawful asylum processes, critics argue he is largely providing political cover for Stephen Miller’s vision of an uncompromising enforcement regime.
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In Minneapolis and across the country, the message from affected communities is clear: empathy without action is not enough. And for now, J.D. Vance’s words — however measured they may sound are seen by many as little more than a softer face on an increasingly hardline reality.
The path forward for Vance, the administration, and the nation will depend on whether “toning down the temperature” means genuine de-escalation or simply better messaging for policies that remain unchanged.
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