Vice President JD Vance didn’t just set the record straight in Minneapolis yesterday—he dismantled yet another viral lie cooked up by the corporate press and served piping hot to the outrage-addicted corners of the internet. While former Special Counsel Jack Smith was being politically filleted in Washington over his collapsed case against Donald Trump, the media tried to distract the public with a sensational—and utterly false—narrative out of Minnesota.
ICE agents in Minnesota have detained a 5-year-old boy after using him as “bait” to lure out his father, according to school officials. https://t.co/QaQDDnEDjz
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) January 22, 2026
The story? That ICE agents had used a child as bait to ensnare his illegal immigrant father. The insinuation was clear: heartless federal agents exploiting children to rip families apart. It had all the ingredients for an emotional media firestorm—except one thing: the truth.
Vice President Vance was unequivocal when asked about the incident during a roundtable discussion with law enforcement and local business leaders: “If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who have violated our laws because they have children, then every single parent is going to be given immunity.” It was a rare moment of clarity amid a fog of media spin.
Democrats out in force to push a lie about ICE in Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/g4c1WDfCkF
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) January 22, 2026
Here are the facts, not the fiction: On January 20, ICE agents were conducting a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an illegal alien from Ecuador who had been released into the U.S. by the Biden administration. When approached by agents, Conejo Arias fled—on foot—and abandoned his own child at the scene.
ICE did not use the child as bait. The child was not targeted. The child was abandoned.
🚨 BREAKING: VP JD Vance just WALKED OUT in Minneapolis flanked by ICE and Border officers and NUKED the Fake News
“Frankly, a lot of the media is LYING about these guys behind me!” 🔥
“Tone down the temperature, reduce the chaos, but STILL allow us to enforce federal… pic.twitter.com/1aDWwhnLZx
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 22, 2026
In a display of professionalism and basic humanity, one ICE officer stayed behind to ensure the child’s safety while the others pursued and arrested the fugitive. The process that followed was not new, nor was it draconian. It was the same as under prior administrations: parents are given the option to be deported with their children, or to designate a trusted guardian. They even receive travel assistance, including a free flight and $2,600 through the CBP Home app—an incentive to return the legal way.
What Vance made clear—amid the din of breathless headlines and blue-check scolding—is that enforcement of immigration law cannot be suspended simply because someone has a child. If that were the case, every criminal alien would be granted de facto immunity so long as they arrived with a minor in tow. That’s not policy. That’s a loophole in search of abuse.
ICE did NOT target a child. The child was ABANDONED.
On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration.
As agents approached the driver Adrian…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 22, 2026
This wasn’t just a media error; it was a deliberate distortion—one designed to paint ICE agents as villains and erase the very real human cost of a system overwhelmed by open borders and politically motivated inaction. Vance’s visit to Minneapolis underscored the need for cooperation between federal, state, and local authorities—a point lost on the same politicians who turn cities into sanctuary havens for lawlessness, then feign outrage when chaos ensues.
