‘Horrific smear’: ICE did not arrest 5-year-old or use child as ‘bait,’ McLaughlin says

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin rejected allegations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents targeted or detained a 5-year-old boy — or used him as “bait” — during a recent enforcement operation.

She called claims “a horrific smear” and said officers were focused on the child’s safety and welfare throughout the encounter, which happened on Tuesday in Minnesota.

“The father and alleged mother abandoned the child. Agitators scared the child,” McLaughlin said in an X post on Thursday night.

McLaughlin identified the child’s father as Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador who was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration.

She said he ran from the scene as as agents approached him — abandoning his child.

“For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias,” she said. “Our officer’s made multiple attempts to get the alleged mother who was inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her she would NOT be taken her into custody. The alleged mother refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him.”

McLaughlin said anti-ICE agitators gathered and started “yelling and blowing horns,” which frightened the child. She said Conejo Arias later asked if the boy could stay with him, adding that they are together at the Dilley Family Detention Center in Texas.

“Officers abided by the father’s wishes to keep the child with him and even got the child McDonald’s and played his favorite music,” she said.

In her post, McLaughlin also mentioned DHS’s new voluntary departure incentive, which DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced earlier this week to mark the first anniversary of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategy.

Illegal immigrants who leave the U.S. on their own will be eligible for a $2,600 exit payment, Noem said.

“To celebrate one year of this administration, the U.S. taxpayer is generously increasing the incentive to leave voluntarily for those in this country illegally — offering a $2,600 exit bonus,” Noem wrote on X.

“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return,” she noted.

She shared the news on social media Thursday morning, adding that “tens of thousands” have used the CBP Home program.

Noem also said at least 2.2 million illegal immigrants have voluntarily self-deported since January 2025.