US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a five-year-old Minnesota boy on Tuesday as he returned home from school and transported him and his father to a Texas detention center, according to school officials.

Liam Ramos, a preschooler, and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway, the superintendent of the school district in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, said at a press conference on Wednesday. Liam, who had recently turned five, is one of four children in the school district who have been detained by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in the region over the last two weeks, the district said.

Liam Ramos. Photograph: Courtesy of Columbia Heights Public Schools

Liam and his father had just arrived home when they were detained, according to Zena Stenvik, the superintendent, who said she drove to the home when she learned of the arrests.

When she arrived, Stenvik said the father’s car was still running and the father and son had already been apprehended. An agent had taken Liam out of the car, led the boy to his front door and directed him to knock on the door asking to be let in, “in order to see if anyone else was home – essentially using a five-year-old as bait”, the superintendent said in a statement.

Stenvik said another adult living in the home was outside at the time of the arrests and had pleaded to take care of Liam so the boy could avoid detention, but was denied. Liam’s older brother, a middle schooler, came home 20 minutes later to find his father and brother missing, Stenvik said. Two school principals from the district also arrived at the home to offer support.

The superintendent said the family has an active asylum case and no order of deportation. The father and son have remained together in detention, she said.

Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to inquiries on Wednesday evening about the boy’s arrest.

Liam Ramos, five, detained by ICE in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, outside his home on Tuesday. Photograph: Courtesy of Columbia Heights Public Schools

School officials released two photos of the encounter, one showing Liam, in a blue knit hat, outside his front door with a masked agent by his side, and another showing Liam standing by a car with a man holding onto his backpack.

“Why detain a five-year-old? You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” Stenvik said.

The school district provided a statement from Liam’s teacher, who said the arrest had shocked the class: “Liam is a bright young student. He is so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him. He comes into class every day and just brightens the room. All I want is for him to be back here and safe.”

Also on Tuesday, a 17-year-old Columbia Heights student was taken by “armed and masked agents” without parents present, Stenvik said. That student was removed from their car.

In another case on 14 January, ICE agents “pushed their way into an apartment” and detained a 17-year-old high school girl and her mother, Stenvik said.

And in a fourth case, on 6 January, a 10-year-old fourth grade student was allegedly taken by ICE on her way to elementary school with her mother. The superintendent said the 10-year-old called her father during the arrests and said that ICE agents would bring her to school, but when the father arrived at the school, he discovered both his daughter and wife had been taken. By the end of that school day, the mother and daughter were in a detention center in Texas.

Stenvik reported that as school officials were preparing for the press conference on Wednesday afternoon, an ICE vehicle drove onto the property of the district’s high school and were told by administrators to leave.

“ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our kids,” Stenvik said.

DHS did not respond to inquiries about the other arrests and the report of ICE’s arrival on campus.

In an interview after the press conference, the superintendent said the arrests and looming presence of ICE had taken an enormous toll on students, parents and school staff.

“Our children are traumatized. The sense of safety in our community and around our schools is shaken,” Stenvik said. “I can speak on behalf of all school staff when I say our hearts are shattered. After our fourth student was taken yesterday, I just thought someone has to hear the story. They’re taking children.”

School officials said some families were choosing to stay home out of fear of ICE.

Stenvik said school leaders were working to aid families impacted by ICE. “Our role is to educate children during the school day. But now we’re trying to help people navigate this legal system.” She added: “Our main priority is to keep children safe. They’re children. They are not violent criminals. They are little kids.”