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Two Minnesota children — a second grader and a fifth grader — who were taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last week have been released and returned to their home. 

The boys attend the same Columbia Heights elementary school as Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old whose

 gripped the Twin Cities and the nation as images of the small boy in his winter hat flanked by agents circulated online.

brought by school staff to the Whipple Federal Building

 near Fort Snelling at their mother’s request after she was detained by federal agents during a court appointment. 

The family was flown that same day to an ICE family detention center in Dilley, Texas, despite showing immigration officials they had documentation to prove the family’s lawful presence in the United States.

On Wednesday, the children and their mother were released and flown back to Minnesota. Jason Kuhlman, principal of Valley View Elementary School in Columbia Heights, picked them up at the Twin Cities airport and brought them home safely.

“Mother and sons are in good health and eager to resume the boys’ schooling,” school officials said in a statement. Their names were not disclosed.

The two elementary school children were the latest Columbia Heights students to have been detained by federal agents. District officials say six of their kids were detained in January as family members were taken into custody.  

District officials say there are numerous other children still missing from their schools, but it’s unclear whether they’ve been detained or have moved away with their families.

The latest on ICE in Minnesota

Elizabeth Shockman

Author

The siblings from Liam Ramos’ Columbia Heights elementary school were detained last week and returned to Minnesota Wednesday. District officials, though, warn they’ve lost contact with other students who may be in ICE detention.

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Two Minnesota boys from Liam Ramos’ school released from ICE custody

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