Minnesota girl freed from Texas ICE detention returns to family

Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano, a Columbia Heights elementary student, and her mother were released from the family detention facility in Dilley, Texas, and are expected to return to Minnesota to reunite with her father, officials said. The pair had been taken into federal custody on the morning they were heading to school in early January, school officials and district staff said.

Columbia Heights officials identified Elizabeth as a 10-year-old fourth grader. The family has an active asylum case and is originally from Ecuador, the district said. School staff described the detention as traumatic for the child and the wider community, and local leaders intensified calls for the release of other students taken into custody.

The family was picked up on Jan. 6, according to accounts from school staff, who said Elizabeth telephoned her father that morning to say immigration agents were bringing her to school. She and her mother were then flown to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, where families are housed. They remained in custody for about a month before being released Tuesday evening and placed in a Texas shelter, a family attorney said; the father said he expected them to travel back to Minnesota soon.

Health concerns shadowed the case. Federal officials confirmed a measles outbreak at the Dilley facility, which houses hundreds of children, prompting officials to warn that quarantines could delay travel and complicate reunions. Carolina Gutierrez, principal secretary at Highland Elementary, said the girl was "experiencing flu-like symptoms" and that her mother had "broken out in hives, but they had not yet received a medical assessment." Columbia Heights superintendent Zena Stenvik cautioned that the family's return could be uncertain "given the measles outbreak in Dilley and the possible need for a quarantine period."

The detention touched off a wave of local and state political pressure. State leaders and district officials held a news conference this week addressing the impact of immigration enforcement on children. The governor and the attorney general joined school leaders in pressing for reunions, while Columbia Heights and other Minnesota school districts have pursued legal action aimed at restricting immigration agents' presence near schools.

The episode is part of a broader pattern of student detentions in the district that school officials have documented. District officials said multiple enrolled students have been taken into custody in recent months; counts differ among officials, and the district has not released all names. Some children have returned home, while others remain in detention at Dilley, according to school staff.

Family members and community leaders expressed relief at Elizabeth’s release. Her father, Luis Zuna, told district reporters he felt "very happy, very relieved." Educators and advocates, meanwhile, pressed for clarity on medical checks, travel arrangements, and the legal status of other detained children.

Officials have not released detailed immigration case records, and federal authorities have not provided a public account of the specific grounds for the family's transfer to Dilley. Columbia Heights school leaders said they will continue to press state and federal officials for transparent information about student detentions and for safeguards to protect children in school communities.