10-Year-Old Minnesota Girl Freed After Month in ICE Detention in Texas

Overview

• Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano, 10, and her mother were detained Jan. 6 near a Minneapolis school bus stop and transferred the same day to the Dilley, Texas family detention center roughly 1,900–2,000 km away.
• DHS and ICE state they do not target children or schools and say agents offered placement of the child with a trusted adult, a claim disputed by the family and school staff.
• The mother faces a removal order after a judge denied the family’s 2020 asylum claim in September 2025, though their appeal remains active.
• Following their return to Minnesota, relatives and local reporters described health and psychological effects on the child and mother, and the girl recounted seeing many children, including infants, in custody.
• Community leaders say at least six other children from the same area were recently detained in similar operations, including a widely publicized case involving a 5-year-old boy named Liam.