A senior official from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pushed back on Friday against what he termed a “false narrative” surrounding a Minnesota incident involving a young boy. The official also addressed claims that a group protesting ICE’s actions at a church was peaceful, arguing the contrary.

The situation gained widespread attention after a photograph of a 5-year-old boy standing next to a black vehicle circulated widely online. This image emerged from an ICE enforcement operation conducted in the Minneapolis area. Both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security clarified on Thursday that the child was “abandoned” by his father during the operation, and not specifically targeted by immigration agents.

Marcos Charles, ICE’s Executive Assistant Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, expressed frustration on Friday over the misinformation spread by certain politicians and activists. “It’s disheartening to see fear being sown in communities through the creation of a false narrative about our mission and those we arrest,” he stated.

During the enforcement action, officers apprehended the boy’s father, while one officer stayed with the child. Charles highlighted the officers’ care for the child, detailing how they ensured his well-being by taking him to a drive-through restaurant for a meal and spending several hours with him. “It was our officers who provided for the child, not his father,” Charles emphasized.

“One of our officers stayed behind with that child while other officers apprehended his father. After conducting the arrest, my officers stayed with the child. They cared for him. Took him to get something to eat from a drive-through restaurant and spent hours ensuring he was taken care of. Again, my officers did that, not his father,” Charles added. 

“My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family. Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door,” Charles continued. “Let me say it again. They saw the young boy, and they refused to open the door and take him back.

“This is the human side of the job that my officers do. They are family men and women. They have children of their own. They sacrifice everything for their families. I know for a fact that they were heartbroken to see the child’s own family leave him behind. Fortunately, [Adrian Alexander] Conejo Arias eventually requested that his child stay with him,” he added. 

“We do everything in our power not to separate families. So, they took him back together … to the ICE facility for processing. And now they are being well cared for at a family residential center, pending their immigration proceedings,” Charles concluded. “This is the real face of ICE ERO, Border Patrol and our allied partners. The media doesn’t know our officers, we do. My officers do the right thing no matter how difficult or how long it takes throughout the day.”

Federal authorities arrested Chauntyll Allen, leader of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, left; William Kelly, center; and Nekima Levy-Armstrong, Racial Justice Network leader, right, after a mob invaded a St. Paul, Minn., church, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Department of Homeland Security)

Charles also spoke out against the behavior of an anti-ICE mob that stormed a church in St. Paul earlier this week. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced multiple arrests in relation to that incident Thursday, including Nekima Levy Armstrong, whom Bondi said, “allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”

“Federal law protects the freedom of religion and the right to worship without interference. What these agitators did was not a peaceful protest,” Charles said Friday. “They rioted at church services. They screamed and harassed children. They denied Minnesotans the ability to worship peacefully.

A protester, left, and a federal law enforcement officer argue outside a house Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn.  (Yuki Iwamura/AP)

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 33 years now, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a protest in a church where they’re harassing individuals trying to peacefully worship. It’s disturbing to know that these individuals would target sacred spaces and viciously harass innocent families. Sacred spaces must be respected.”