Ecuadorian mother detained in Minneapolis, transferred to Texas, returned after court order
Feb 5, 2026·Location: Minneapolis, MN
Country of origin: Ecuador

An 11-year-old girl's mother from Ecuador was detained by federal immigration agents on February 5, 2026, after leaving her apartment for the first time in over a month to buy groceries. She was transferred to a detention facility in Texas approximately 1,400 miles away before attorney John Hayden secured a federal court order demanding her return to Minnesota. She was returned to a Minneapolis detention facility on Friday morning. The mother had applied for asylum in the U.S. and was later transferred to a jail in Willmar, Minnesota.
Sources
- Families in hiding and defiant observers: What it’s like in Minneapolis in wake of Bovino’s exit and immigration ‘draw down’
CNN·Feb 8, 2026·archived copy
edition.cnn.com·Feb 8, 2026·archived copy
- Families in hiding and defiant observers: This is Minneapolis in the wake of the so-called ICE ‘drawdown’
- The 'insane' reality of raising a nine-year-old in Trump and ICE's Minnesota
abc.net.au·Feb 9, 2026·archived copy
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