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Judge temporarily bars removal of boy, 5, and father detained by immigration agents in Minnesota
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A U.S. federal judge has issued a temporary order prohibiting removal of a five-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father whose arrest last week in Minnesota quickly become another lightning rod for America’s divisions on immigration under the Trump administration.
U.S. Judge Fred Biery ruled Monday that any removal or transfer of Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, is on hold while a court case proceeds.
A petition seeking their release was filed Saturday as dozens of immigrant families protested behind the fences of the family detention facility where the father and son are detained in Dilley, Texas.
A photo of the boy wearing a tuque and a Spider-Man backpack has circulated widely on social media, sparking strong reactions.
“He has become emblematic of the monstrosity of the ICE system and the detention system,” Rep. Joaquin Castro said in a Facebook video.
He used the post to announce that he and fellow Texas Democratic representative Jasmine Crockett would visit the father and son on Wednesday at the Dilley Detention Center.
Five-year-old Liam Ramos was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Tuesday during an operation to arrest his father, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said. The family’s lawyer said both are now in custody at an ICE detention centre in Dilley, Texas.
Ramos and Arias were taken into custody outside their home in Columbia Heights, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis, last week. Neighbours and school officials said federal immigration officers used the preschooler as “bait” by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has called that description of events an “abject lie.” It said Arias fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.
Ramos’s attorney, Jennifer Scarborough, didn’t immediately respond to phone or email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment about the ruling.
The DHS sent a response reiterating its version of events, insisting it did not arrest or target the child. Its statement did not address the judge’s court order.
Federal officials say the father was in the U.S. illegally, without offering details. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said the man entered the country without proper documents in December 2024.
The family’s attorney said he had a pending asylum claim allowing him to stay in the country. An online court summary shows the case was filed on Dec. 17, 2024, and is assigned to the immigration court inside the Dilley detention centre.
The child’s immigration status may be a critical factor, and it is unclear if the five-year-old was legally in the United States. If he wasn’t, he may be subject to deportation with one or both parents.