Days before he was due to start kindergarten, a 5-year-old Texas boy was taken to an immigration detention center with his father after federal agents stopped them as they traveled to a soccer game, according to his family and Spanish-language news reports. Liam Tadeo and his father were detained following a traffic stop in Austin on Sunday, August 17, and later taken to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, the boy’s mother told N+ Univision. Video circulating online appears to show Liam crying before his father is arrested as officers escort them into a car.
He was due to start kindergarten this week, his aunt Patricia Resendiz said in a GoFundMe. During N+ Univision’s interview with Tadeo's mother, who asked not to be named, Tadeo called her from the detention center, telling her that he loved and missed her, the Spanish network reported. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have not publicly confirmed the circumstances of the case. Newsweek has contacted both agencies, via email outside of normal working hours, for comment. Univision said ICE had not responded to its repeated questions about the reported detention by the time its initial report was published.
Resendiz said in the family’s GoFundMe: “The detention of Liam and my brother-in-law was cruel; they are not criminals—they were simply on their way to a soccer match. Liam is a beautiful, intelligent, and big-hearted little boy. My sister is devastated, and so are we.” Texas Democratic Representative Greg Casar has spoken out in support of the family, saying in a post on X: “ICE just arrested a 5-year-old on his way to a soccer game in Austin.
His name is Liam, just like the little boy from Minnesota. He should be in kindergarten this week. Instead he's in a trailer prison in the desert.
Close the Dilley children’s prison.” This is a developing story – more to follow.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
