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Five-Year-Old Boy Being Held at Texas ICE Facility With His Dad. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 23, 2026 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: But there is going to be a protest today. People outraged, again, as to the way that ICE has been operating in the city. And the outrage comes amid this arrest and detention of a five-year-old. A five-year-old was detained. His name is Liam Conejo Ramos. He was in the driveway of his home with his dad. ICE was looking to try and detain his father, and they ended up detaining both the father and the son as the mother was inside the home.

ICE saying, look, we tried to get her to open the door. The husband was screaming at her, please don't open the door, because they feared that she, too, would be taken into custody. But we are now waiting to see the result of -- of how people feel about this in the streets of Minneapolis, even in these frigid temperatures.

I want to bring in our Priscilla Alvarez, who has been following the story of little Liam, who was taken from his home, from his driveway. There's a lot of concern about him. I know that the two of them have been sent to a detention center in Texas known as the Dilley Detention Center. What more are you learning about this family? I know you have been reporting for many, many years on this detention center, where they take families who have children.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and, Sara, to that point, Liam and his father are not the first family under this administration to find themselves plucked out of their daily routines and now held at this detention facility for families in Texas.

Now, again, the Department of Homeland Security has said the father was the target of their enforcement operation. But, of course, we know the father was taken with his son. And they are at this facility.

Now, this is a facility that, again, is designed to care for families. So what does that mean? That means that, for example, it's outfitted with a library, with a gym, with classrooms, where families will continue to go through their immigration proceedings, potentially prepare for deportation in this -- in this setting.

Now, what has been so alarming for many advocates and attorneys who have been going to the family facility for some time now is that, before, family detention was often used for those families who had just crossed into the U.S.-Mexico border. And so, they would go there. They would be processed. Some of them would continue and be deported. Some could be released into the United States. But they hadn't yet really set roots in the United States. What we're seeing now in many cases is that these families, like Liam and his father, are going through their daily routines, in this case returning from preschool, and then being plucked out of that and placed in these facilities. And that is particularly difficult on the children.

We know this because there's been an ongoing court case about family detention for many, many years. And over the course of that case, there are declarations provided by the children, as well as by the parents. So, we have heard directly, through the attorneys, from teenagers who are struggling to be in this facility, as well as children who are languishing.

And as a reminder, Sara, this is a facility that has infants to teenagers with their parents at this ICE facility. So, that is what we know so far. Liam and his father are there. We're still trying to gather more information about their particular immigration case and whether they have a final order of removal. That means, can they be deported? But we do know a lot about the facility already, where they are being held, along with many other families.

SIDNER: Yeah, Priscilla Alvarez, I know you've done so much reporting on what is happening there and the plight of children taken into these situations. There is a certain amount of terror for a five-year-old seeing someone who was masked come and take their dad and then being taken themselves. We also talked to pediatricians who were talking about the fear that they are hearing from children, the mental strife hearing from children here in Minneapolis because of what they are seeing in the actions of ICE.

We will have to, you know, follow this story, and I know you will, we certainly will, to see what happens with this particular family. But there are many families dealing with this. We do appreciate your reporting.

I do want to mention now, school officials who were on the scene, actually, when all of this was happening at little Liam's home, who witnessed some of what happened, they're accusing ICE of using Liam and other children as bait to try and flesh out the members of their families who they want to detain.

I want to bring in now Zena Stenvik. She is a Superintendent of Columbia Heights Public School. We were able to speak with her yesterday during a press conference where she talked about her role in all this.

Zena, thank you so much for joining us. First of all, just give us a sense of what you saw when you arrived at this little child's home because there are so many different stories coming from the administration about what happened. What did you see happen?

[09:35:07]

ZENA STENVIK, SUPERINTENDENT, COLUMBIA HEIGHTS MN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT: I arrived shortly after Liam had been taken, and so when I arrived, there were people standing in the yard like the other folks who live in the home. There were people in the street crying. There were cars everywhere, you know, lining the sides of the street, not blocking the street.

I was able to park. I assumed when I went there, I got the call that what was happening. I went there. It's -- I would say half a mile is less than Liam's preschool, where his father had just picked him up, and it's near my office as well. We're a very small town.

So, there were people crying, and I jumped out of my vehicle and went straight to the yard and said, where's the child? Where's the child? Assuming that I was there to, you know, take my student and then, you know, call their emergency contacts and reunite them with someone. And then a community member tearfully said, they've taken the child. They've taken the child. So, that's -- that's what the scene I came into.

Additionally, the -- Liam's father's car was still running in the driveway when I got there.

SIDNER: OK, I do want to ask you about what J.D. Vance said. He said, look, ICE had to do this because they were taking the father and the child could have been left out to freeze to death. Was there any chance that that would happen, knowing what you know about the scene, that the child would, if ICE had just left the child there with someone who was there, that the child would have been left and abandoned to freeze to death?

STENVIK: Not a chance, no. I spoke with the person who lives in the home, and they told me that they multiple times said, I live here, I live here, I will take him. And then before, when my school board chair, Mary Granlund, arrived, the community members that were there said, the school is here, the school is here, they will take him.

And there were neighbors who are very connected to this family that also would have taken him. There's -- we would never, ever leave a child outside to freeze.

SIDNER: We spoke to the attorney, of course, of this family who said, look, the mother was inside of the home. Do you know what happened in the scenario with the mother inside the home and whether or not she had other children who she was concerned about?

STENVIK: So, as I stated before, there is a middle school brother who was coming home, you know, would have been released or was released from school 20 minutes or so afterwards. So -- so, yes, I mean, in a typical day, the father would have picked up Liam and then the other -- the middle school brother would have come home on the bus or and they would have all just, you know, gone about their afternoon.

I'll tell you, I entered the home and the mother was distraught. She wanted Liam, she wanted to open the door. And I can't even imagine as a mother myself how conflicted she must have been seeing. This is what she told me, seeing her husband standing in the driveway in handcuffs saying, don't open the door and also hearing her little one. And she could see the ICE agent standing there at the door. So, I -- I just can't imagine as a mother what she was going through. It was heartbreaking for me to hear her. And she looked up at me and -- and said, I don't understand what's happening. We're not criminals. And as our -- as the family's attorney stated yesterday, they have followed everything that they've needed to do in terms of the legal processes.

SIDNER: You have accused the administration and ICE of using children as bait. DHS has come forward saying we absolutely weren't using any child as bait, particularly this child. The child was being abandoned. What do you say to ICE after making that statement?

STENVIK: You know, I guess I'm a firm believer in past behavior predicts future behavior. And here in the Twin Cities right now, it's pretty common that people are not opening their doors because once anyone cracks open their door, the ICE agents are bursting through or even breaking doors down. So, that's the behavior that we're seeing. So, that's the only behavior that we can assume would have happened.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, Zena Stenvik, for speaking to us and walking us through the trauma that you were seeing with these families and with one of your students. I know that you have been quite emotional about this as you were trying to figure out how to keep your students safe when ICE is coming towards and near your campuses. I do really appreciate your time this morning.

[09:40:23]

STENVIK: Yeah, thank you. And on behalf of all of the staff of Columbia Heights who have been working around the clock, thank you.

SIDNER: Do appreciate it.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The Trump administration orders an exhibit on slavery taken down without notice. What don't they want people to see?

And CNN's "Have I Got News For You" returns this week. Roy Wood Jr. reveals all the inside dirt for the new season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" HOST: Pull up the fans because I ain't even know nothing about no radio here. There's only one creep.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you mean? Don't know creep.

WOOD: There's only one creep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's DLC.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We've been talking about the new poll numbers for President Trump, historically low at this point in a second term. You know who else is pouring, polling poorly right now? Democratic leaders, almost historically so.

With us now, CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten. So, you know, good news for Democrats that the president's not doing well.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah.

BERMAN: Democratic leaders aren't so hot either.

ENTEN: They aren't so hot to trot. And as John was telling me before we came on, the call is coming from inside the House. Take a look at how Democrats who disapprove of congressional Democratic leaders. Hello, we're talking about 57 percent in January of 2026, the second highest disapproval rate for Democratic leaders from their own party on record.

[09:45:09]

It's only beat by what we saw earlier on in this Congress when it was 61 percent. There's basically been no improvement. Democrats hate their own congressional leaders. These numbers are awful, awful, awful.

BERMAN: This is Democrat on Democrat crime in a manner of speaking.

ENTEN: You got it.

BERMAN: Why? Why?

ENTEN: Why? Why is there a Democrat-on-Democrat crime? And it just simply comes down to this. They don't think their leaders are fighting enough. Dems who say congressional Dems are doing too little to oppose Donald Trump. In February of 2025, it was 73 percent. Now that number is up to 78 percent. Democrats want fighters in Congress. And at this point, they do not believe that the Democrats in Congress are fighting enough to oppose President Trump's agenda.

BERMAN: Any difference between the House and Senate leaders?

ENTEN: Yeah. OK, so this is, I think, the very key nugget going on. Who are they taking their anger out on? It's not Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House. It's the Democratic leader, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer. You know, you go back to January 2025. You see Jeffries' net favorability rating was at plus 22. It's actually slightly higher now, plus 29.

But look at Schumer. Look at Chuck Schumer. He was on the positive side of the ledger. And again, this is among Democrats. This is among Democrats. He was at plus 11. Now, he's underwater at minus two. He -- I went back and I looked at every single Democratic Senate leader. I looked at all the polling I could. He polls the lowest for any Democratic Senate leader among Democrats dating back in the last 40 years.

BERMAN: So, to what end? I mean, what are the prediction markets saying about whether he will survive as Democratic leader?

ENTEN: Yeah, of course, this is the key question, right? Because if you're going to be a Democratic Senate leader, the key thing is actually having the support of those in the Senate. Doesn't necessarily matter. This net favorability rating nationally, right? Because it's the senators who vote for the Senate leader. But take a look here.

All right. Chance that Chuck Schumer wins the next Democratic Senate leader election, it's only 56 percent.

BERMAN: Yeah.

ENTEN: It's only 56 percent. I mean, it's -- you know, the positive side of 50 percent for Chuck Schumer. But that's quite a low number, given how long he's served as Democratic Senate leader.

BERMAN: Indeed, it is. Harry, and thank you very much. A lot of news. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:46]

SIDNER: Sometimes you need to laugh even about the news. A new season of the comedy quiz show "Have I Got News For You" is back. A brand-new episode drops this Saturday on CNN.

In honor of the show's return, we're going to go to a moment from one of last year's episodes where the teams were divided on the best version of the song "Creep." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOOD: It's time for like curious. I give you three biographical details about a public figure, but only one is true. You have to guess which is the truth and which are vicious, funky lies. Let's get started. Time for three facts about actor, filmmaker, and the only reason your daddy got a subscription to Paramount Plus. Sylvester Stallone.

Our facts are his go-to karaoke song is "Creep" by TLC. He paid a witch to place a curse on Kevin Costner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, that's the one.

WOOD: He was sued over pudding. Team Michael.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to start with your contention that the go-to karaoke song that he sings is "Creep" by TLC.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard it, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And not "Creep" by Radiohead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. WOOD: You want to have a creep-off right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

(CHEERING & APPLAUSE)

WOOD: Pull up the stands, because I ain't even know nothing about no Radiohead. There's only one "Creep."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you mean you don't know Creep by ...

WOOD: There's only one Creep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's TLC. It's TLC.

WOOD: And it's the TLC Creep. Look, Radiohead is a legendary group, but I'm sorry. Would another group come along with a better hit with the same name? You got to change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A better hit? It is --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which one came first?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And which one came best? Best TLC. Go home. Go home. Go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Oh, wait. There he is.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's right here, the one, the only, Roy Wood Jr.

WOOD: I am back to sow the seeds of musical racial division.

BERMAN: Thank you. Thank you for that.

WOOD: Saturday nights, if you want to argue that. Found out there are a lot of Radiohead fans. Presented to me the SoundScan and TLC numbers of both respective songs, and I must concede to Radiohead as being the much bigger hit, but ...

BOLDUAN: OK, well, that is -- look at you. Look, we can all show growth and --

WOOD: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- show when -- when things need to be corrected or facts need to be presented, you are definitely the one to do it.

WOOD: That's why we have this show. We're here on Saturdays to just clean up everything else that happened during the week.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: You said you're cleaning them up out of mess. WOOD: I didn't say y'all's mess. I said the mess. There is a lot of

mess. But, yeah, I'm anxious to get back on the air. There's been a lot that has happened, and myself, Michael, and Amber, we're in a group chat all week. Oh, my God, have you seen LeBron's Dr. King shoes? Did you see Trump talking about his Olympic friend?

That was way earlier this week. Like, we just -- we just stockpile and stockpile and stockpile and just hope and pray that something can make it till Friday, because you know how quick the news cycle is.

SIDNER: How hard is it to try to figure out what it is you're going to talk, and then things go off the rails, obviously. That's actually the best part, isn't it?

WOOD: I think that the toughest thing is not necessarily what we want to joke about, but what do we think people are prepared to actually laugh at in some capacity? Because there's a world where two months ago there was a construct about Minneapolis that is completely different --

SIDNER: Right.

WOOD: -- from what's going on there now, but continues to unfold this week. So, you figure out how to look at necessarily the causation of the issue and not necessarily the crisis itself, and maybe we can pluck a couple things right there. But listen, we have an administration that's always doing new and exciting and fun and weird things. We went to Venezuela and kidnapped a dude, and then we're going to take over Greenland. A lot of action right now.

BOLDUAN: There's this -- there's a line that someone told me recently, like, it's humorous but not funny. Or funny but not humorous. It feels like that's the world we live in. Like, there's so much, like --

WOOD: I think uncanny is probably a better, for me, it's probably a better synonym, but, like, you literally look at everything that's unfolding and you go, well, how the hell do I figure out a way to laugh at this? But, you know, as a comedian, I take it as a badge of honor and a responsibility to be able to try and figure out a way within an hour to unpack the previous seven days that were. So, you know, I'm happy to be back. I needed that break. I grew a stress beard. I don't know if you --

[09:55:01]

SIDNER: There's no gray in it, I don't think.

(CROSSTALK)

WOOD: That's because they have stuff at Sephora.

SIDNER: Oh, OK. She's got it.

BERMAN: Just for men.

WOOD: She's like -- but it's -- it's not quite grown in all the way yet, and that's the stress. This is where my hair is like, no, I don't want to come out and see the world.

SIDNER: A little patchy. It's okay, we still look good.

WOOD: Yeah.

BERMAN: Thank you for being here, Roy Wood Jr.

WOOD: Absolutely.

BERMAN: We appreciate seeing you, and be sure to catch the new season of "I Got News For You" premiering this Saturday at 9:00 p.m. on CNN, and the next day on the CNN app.

He is the best. And then Sara's just magically gone.

BOLDUAN: Poof!

BERMAN: Poof.

BOLDUAN: She's a magician.

BERMAN: Gone.

BOLDUAN: He's a delight.

BERMAN: He is, he is. So, big storm --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- coming this weekend, with sort of epic snow totals. How are you preparing?

BOLDUAN: Not just in New York. Half of the country is now going to be --

BERMAN: But also in New York, where we're going to get a foot of snow.

BOLDUAN: But also right here. I don't know. You -- we might -- I don't know, what's --

BERMAN: I mean, I have to go to the store, stock up on bread, nachos.

BOLDUAN: I've got to go to a volleyball tournament. We'll see about that.

BERMAN: Beer?

BOLDUAN: Not out of the volleyball tournament.

BERMAN: You can make the volleyball tournament fun. Just saying.

BOLDUAN: Makes all things better.

BERMAN: All right. Thank you all for joining us. Stay safe, everyone. This is "CNN News Central." "Situation Room," up next.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, y'all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)