ICE agents reportedly took a 2-year-old and her father in Minneapolis as anger grew over the agency targeting children and detaining them.
Minneapolis City Councilmember Jason Chavez said that Chloe Renata Tipan Villacis and her father, Elvis Joel Tipan Echeverria, were driving back home from the grocery store Thursday when immigration officials decided to detain them, The Daily Beast reported. Chavez created a GoFundMe fundraiser for the family, which has already raised nearly $60,000.
Ellen Schmidt, a MinnPost photographer, captured the moment agents swarmed the vehicle in a series of photos posted on Instagram.
"Bystanders blew whistles and yelled at agents as they tried to leave the scene while the agents deployed chemical irritants. Despite subzero temperatures, ICE continues to detain Minnesotans," Schmidt wrote.
It's unclear if Tipan-Echeverria faces any charges or is suspected of any crimes.
"On January 22 at approximately 1:09 PM CT, while conducting a targeted enforcement operation, Border Patrol identified Elvis Tipan-Echeverria, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador who committed felony reentry and broke the laws of this nation. Tipan-Echeverria was driving erratically with a child in the vehicle," A DHS spokesperson told The Beast.
“Tipan-Echeverria later parked his vehicle and agents attempted to take Tipan-Echeverria into custody, but he refused multiple lawful commands to open his door or lower his window. Agents took Tipan-Echeverria into custody and attempted to give the child to the mother who was in the area, but she refused," the DHS spokesperson said.
DHS alleged that during the arrest "approximately 120 individuals surrounded the agents blocking them in and preventing exit. Agitators in the crowd then began to throw rocks and garbage cans toward the agents and child. To safely clear the area, crowd control measures were deployed. Obstructing and assaulting law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime."
“DHS law enforcement took care of the child who the mother would not take," the spokesperson claimed. "Child and father are now reunited a federal facility.”
A judge has ordered ICE to release the child from its custody by 9:30 p.m. Friday, FOX 9 reported.
ICE has been accused of violating children's rights and taking children into custody. Immigration experts have warned that ICE has tried to use children as bait to attempt to lure parents during aggressive immigration operations. Those parents could have fears over detainment, violence or have other children to care for, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reported Friday.
U.S. Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino boasted Friday during a press conference about detaining a 5-year-old boy in conditions that he insisted don't get "any better."