Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father are back home in Minnesota after a federal judge ordered their release from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Texas, ending a high-profile case that has intensified scrutiny of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
Minnesota Family Detained, Escorted Home By Castro
Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained Jan. 20 in a Minneapolis suburb and transferred to a family facility in Dilley, Texas, as part of a broader enforcement surge in Minnesota, according to court filings.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said he picked them up in Dilley on Saturday night and escorted them back to Minnesota on Sunday. "Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack," Castro wrote, adding, "We won't stop until all children and families are home."
Ayer, Liam, de cinco años, y su papá Adrian fueron liberados del centro de detención de Dilley. Los recogí anoche y los acompañé de regreso a Minnesota esta mañana.
As per a Reuters report, a widely shared photo last month showed Liam in a blue bunny hat and backpack outside his home as armed federal agents stood nearby. He was one of four students detained in the Columbia Heights Public School District during recent raids, the district said.
Dispute Over Immigration Status And ICE Conduct
The Trump administration says Conejo Arias entered the United States illegally from Ecuador in December 2024. His lawyers counter that he arrived as an asylum seeker and has a pending claim that allows him to remain, noting that the immigration court docket currently shows no upcoming hearings in his case.
In a statement shared with the Associated Press, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said ICE "did not target or arrest" Liam and that his mother refused to take the boy after officers apprehended his father. McLaughlin said Conejo Arias asked that Liam stay with him and the department has rejected allegations that agents used the child as "bait" to draw out family members.
Judge Condemns Quotas As Political Backlash Grows
US District Judge Fred Biery ordered the pair released, writing that the case "has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children." He criticized ICE's reliance on internal "administrative warrants," saying the practice is "called the fox guarding the henhouse," and pointed to the Constitution's requirement that warrants be approved by a judge.
The ruling comes amid mounting political fallout over large-scale operations in Minnesota, including the fatal shootings of US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents. Democrats in Congress have demanded new limits on ICE, such as mandatory body cameras, an end to roving patrols and a ban on masked agents, and have tied those conditions to stalled Homeland Security funding.
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