A United States federal judge has mandated the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody by Tuesday, following their controversial detention in a Minneapolis suburb earlier this month.
Traumatic Arrest Sparks National Outrage
Liam Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian preschooler, was apprehended alongside his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, on 20 January as they returned from school to their Minnesota home. Photographs of the young boy wearing a distinctive bunny hat and plaid coat circulated widely online, igniting widespread public condemnation across America.
School district superintendent Zena Stenvik detailed the distressing circumstances, stating that during the arrest, another adult resident pleaded with agents to care for the child but was refused. "Instead, the agent took the child out of the still-running vehicle, led him to the door, and directed him to knock, essentially using a five-year-old as bait," Stenvik asserted in her official statement.
Judicial Condemnation of Immigration Enforcement Tactics
US district judge Fred Biery delivered a scathing assessment in his Saturday ruling, declaring 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."
Judge Biery had previously issued an order preventing the removal of Liam and his father from the United States. In his latest decision, the judge included a photograph of the young boy alongside poignant biblical references: "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,'" and simply: "Jesus Wept."
Conflicting Accounts and Broader Implications
The Department of Homeland Security has vigorously contested allegations that the child was used as bait, instead claiming on social media platform X that "the child was ABANDONED" during the enforcement operation.
Legal representatives for the family have revealed that Liam and his relatives, originally from Ecuador, presented themselves to border officials in Texas during December 2024 to initiate asylum proceedings. Their application for legal status within the United States remains pending resolution through proper immigration channels.
Texas congressional representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett visited the detention facility where Liam and his father were held, reporting that the young boy appeared fatigued and was experiencing difficulties with eating during his confinement.
Superintendent Stenvik further disclosed that immigration authorities have taken three additional children from the Columbia Heights public school district, highlighting what appears to be a broader pattern of enforcement actions affecting minors within educational communities.
