Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano, an 10-year-old fourth-grader from Highland Elementary School, and her mother Rosa Elena Caisaguano Cajilema have been released from federal immigration custody after spending nearly a month detained at a facility in South Texas.
The mother and daughter were freed on the evening of February 3, from the Dilley Immigration Processing Center and returned to Minnesota to reunite with Elizabeth’s father, Luis Zuna. Their release came just days after 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, from the same school district, returned home.
Elizabeth was the first student in the Columbia Heights Public Schools district to be taken into custody during the recent immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities. On the morning of January 6 ICE agents detained Elizabeth and her mother while they were on their way to school.
During the stop, Elizabeth served as an interpreter between the ICE agents and her Spanish-speaking parents. She was able to call her father and was told the agents would drop her off at school. Luis Zuna rushed to Highland Elementary to wait for his daughter, but she never arrived.
By the end of that day, the family learned that Elizabeth and Rosa had already been transferred to the Dilley detention center in Texas.
While detained, both Elizabeth and her mother fell ill. Elizabeth developed flu-like symptoms while her mother broke out in hives. Neither received medicine or a measles test, even though an outbreak is ongoing there.
A habeas corpus petition was filed on behalf of Elizabeth and her mother in federal court on February 2. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery (the same San Antonio judge who ordered the release of Liam Ramos and his father) ruled that Elizabeth and her mother could not be deported while their case proceeds.
The family’s immigration status has been disputed. The Department of Homeland Security stated that Rosa had a final order of removal. However, the family’s lawyer and school officials dispute this, saying the family had applied for asylum, and while their initial application was denied, they filed an appeal. They also applied for a U visa, which protects immigrants who help law enforcement after being crime victims.
Elizabeth’s case is part of a larger pattern in Columbia Heights. According to school officials, at least six students from the district have been detained by ICE, with four having returned home as of February 4. Still in detention are a 17-year-old high school student and a pair of brothers in second and fifth grade.
On February 4, Minnesota school districts and educators filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security seeking to prevent agents from operating near schools. The Marshall Project found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has booked at least 3,800 children into detention since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. More than 1,000 children were held longer than 20 days.
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