ICE Detains Father and 2-Year-Old Daughter in Minneapolis Grocery Store Incident
A father and his 2-year-old daughter were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday, according to a Minneapolis City Council member, while the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the detention of the man who was traveling with a child at the time.
A Minneapolis council member reports ICE detained a father and his 2-year-old daughter in south Minneapolis as DHS confirms custody amid growing immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
Elvis Joel Tipan-Echeverria and his young daughter, Chloe Renata Tipan Villacis, were stopped in south Minneapolis while returning from a grocery store trip, Council member Jason Chavez stated on Instagram.
Jason Chavez-Cruz via GoFundMe
DHS confirmed that Tipan-Echeverria was detained during a traffic stop while a child was present in the vehicle, though officials did not release details about the child’s identity, age, or gender.
Chavez wrote that a suspicious vehicle followed the family, shattered a window, and removed both individuals without presenting a judicial warrant. In an interview with NBC News, Chavez said he later met with the child’s relatives on Thursday evening.
In a statement, DHS described Tipan-Echeverria as an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador who had committed felony reentry and violated U.S. law.
The agency added that officers ensured the child’s safety after the mother declined to take custody and confirmed that both father and daughter are now together at a federal facility.
According to DHS, Tipan-Echeverria was driving erratically before parking. Agents attempted to arrest him, but he refused to comply with commands to open his door or lower his window. After taking him into custody, officers tried to hand the child to her mother, who declined.
The child’s mother could not be reached for immediate comment.
During the arrest, roughly 120 bystanders surrounded the agents, blocking their exit and throwing rocks and trash cans before authorities deployed crowd control measures.
The detention follows another recent case in which 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were taken into custody, prompting widespread outrage and international attention.
DHS said Liam’s mother also refused to take custody, and the child is now in Texas with his father, who remains in federal detention.
School board chair Mary Granlund, who witnessed that arrest, challenged DHS’s account, saying she heard someone inside the home pleading with agents to leave the child.
These incidents come during an intensified immigration enforcement effort in the Twin Cities.
More than 3,000 federal immigration officers have arrived in Minnesota since December as part of Operation Metro Surge. DHS reports that about 3,000 undocumented individuals have been apprehended in recent weeks.
The operation began after a right-wing YouTuber released a viral video alleging large-scale fraud at childcare centers owned by Somali immigrants, renewing attention on a Justice Department probe into an alleged $250 million fraud scheme involving some members of Minnesota’s Somali community.
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