MINNEAPOLIS — On Thursday, an ICE operation resulted in the apprehension of a father and his 2-year-old daughter in south Minneapolis. Elvis Joel Tipan-Echeverria and his daughter, Chloe Renata Tipan Villacis, were intercepted while returning home from a grocery trip, as confirmed by Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged that Tipan-Echeverria was taken into custody while in the vehicle with his daughter. Although DHS did not disclose the child’s details, Chavez stated on social media that a “suspicious vehicle” followed the father home, intervening by breaking a window and “kidnapping” them without a judicial warrant.
According to DHS, Tipan-Echeverria is identified as an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador, previously convicted of felony reentry. DHS explained that he was detained after allegedly driving erratically with his daughter in the vehicle, and refused instructions from agents attempting to apprehend him. Following the arrest, the situation escalated as approximately 120 bystanders surrounded the agents, obstructing their actions and throwing objects at them.
The agency reported that Tipan-Echeverria and his daughter were ultimately reunited at a federal facility after the child was initially offered to her mother, who declined to take her. The mother was not available for comment.
This incident follows another recent ICE operation in the Twin Cities involving a 5-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. These events have raised significant public concern and international media attention regarding immigration enforcement practices in the region. School board chair Mary Granlund, who witnessed the previous apprehension, disputed DHS claims, suggesting there were pleas from within the home for the child to be left unharmed.
The recent arrests have intensified amidst a broader immigration enforcement campaign dubbed Operation Metro Surge, which has seen more than 3,000 federal personnel deployed to Minnesota since December. Reports indicate approximately 3,000 individuals unlawfully present in the country have been detained recently, a development that stems in part from allegations of fraud involving local child care centers in the Somali community, which has further fueled scrutiny and tension in the area.
While the situation continues to unfold, it underscores the ongoing complexities surrounding immigration policy and its impacts on families in communities across the nation.