We Have Lost the Meaning of the Word “Criminal”

Diya Ravi

February 6, 2026

Criminal. This word has lost all its meaning in the United States. This word has been used to label parents and children whose only “crime” was seeking a better life. At the same time, when it is politically inconvenient, that word is dismissed. These insane contradictions show how disoriented our understanding of criminality has become. 

This disorientation was unfortunately made clear in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, when ICE detained a 5-year-old boy, named Liam Ramos, and his father. They were arriving home when taking into custody, and according to school officials, the father’s car was still running. An agent reportedly removed Liam from the vehicle and instructed him to knock on his own front door to see if anyone else was home. Despite pleas from another adult in the household to care for the child, Liam was detained and later transported with his father to a detention center in Texas.

Liam is not a criminal. He is a preschooler. His family has an active asylum case and entered the United States through a legal port of entry, according to their attorney. There is no deportation order against them. Still, he was removed from his home, separated from his school community, and labeled part of an enforcement operation meant to target “criminals.”

It is heartbreaking to say, but this case is not an isolated incident. In the same school district itself, ICE has detained several children in recent weeks, including students aged ten and seventeen. School officials report ICE vehicles circling neighborhoods and school campuses, creating fear so intense that some families are keeping their children home. The message being sent is clear: immigrant children are to be treated as threats. It’s not even about making America safe; it’s about racism and xenophobia, and that image has cleared up now. 

At the same time, the country has shown how flexible the word criminal can be when power is involved. Millions of Americans voted to place a man with 34 felonies to his name to be our president. If 34 felony convictions can be overlooked at the highest level of government, it becomes impossible to justify branding asylum-seeking families and children as criminals.

This contradiction clashes directly with America’s stated values. The national anthem describes the United States as “the home of the brave.” Bravery does not belong only to soldiers or citizens by birth. It belongs to those who leave behind everything familiar for the small chance of safety and opportunity for their children. By that definition, immigrants embody bravery, and they should be worshipped, not persecuted. 

Even America’s founding supports this view. The break from British rule was an act of defiance against tyranny. The people who formed the thirteen colonies were, in effect, immigrants themselves. They didn’t know if standing up to the British rule would work, but they gave it a shot, and that is exactly what these brave, amazing, powerful immigrant parents are and have been doing. They are risking their lives just for the slight chance their child can succeed, and people are hating against them for this. To praise that bravery while condemning modern immigrants is historically inconsistent. 

When children like Liam Ramos are treated as criminals while actual criminals can have so much power, the word loses all meaning. If the United States truly values justice, it must stop criminalizing hope and bravery, and it needs to start remembering who the word criminal is meant to describe, because I will say one thing: it isn’t these immigrants.