Two-Year-Old Separated From Mother in US Immigration Raid

The Chronify

January 25, 2026

A two-year-old girl was detained by US immigration agents in Minneapolis and flown to a Texas detention facility with her father, despite a federal judge ordering her immediate release. She was later returned to Minnesota and reunited with her mother, while her father remains in detention.

A two-year-old girl was temporarily separated from her mother after being detained by US immigration agents in Minneapolis and flown to a detention centre in Texas with her father, in defiance of a federal court order, according to court records and the family’s lawyers.

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when federal immigration agents stopped the child’s father, identified in court filings as Elvis Joel TE, as he was returning home from a nearby store with his daughter. The case was first reported by The Guardian.

By Thursday evening, a federal judge ordered the child’s immediate release by 9:30pm, citing a “risk of irreparable harm.” Despite the ruling, immigration officials placed both the father and the toddler on a flight bound for Texas.

Irina Vaynerman, one of the family’s lawyers, said immigration authorities later flew both back to Minnesota. The child was released into the custody of her mother, while the father remains detained.

“The horror is truly unimaginable,” Vaynerman said. “The depravity of all of this is beyond words.”

Court filings describe a chaotic and traumatic sequence of events that unfolded within hours, prompting urgent legal action to prevent the child from being permanently separated from her family.

According to another attorney, Kira Kelley, immigration agents entered the family’s backyard and driveway around 1pm without a warrant as the father and child arrived home. One agent allegedly broke the window of the father’s car while the toddler was still inside. The child’s mother was at the front door of the house and stepped back inside as agents approached.

The incident comes just two days after another controversial case in Minnesota, where immigration authorities detained a five-year-old child, triggering international criticism and renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics in the region.