5-year-old boy detained by ICE in Minnesota driveway released
Liam Ramos, a 5-year-old boy held by federal immigration agents in Minnesota, has been released from a Texas detention center.
Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who became one of the symbols of the Trump administration’s raid on Minnesota immigrants, has been released from a Texas detention center where he and his father were held for more than a week.
“Liam is home now. He has his hat and backpack. Thank you to everyone who called for Liam’s freedom,” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, told X.
Ramos and his asylum-seeking father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their driveway after the boy returned home from school on January 20. Investigators at the time rejected an offer from another adult living in the home to take custody of the boy.
Instead, the staff took the boy to the front door and ordered him to knock — “effectively using the 5-year-old as bait,” according to a Columbia Heights Public Schools news release.
ICE disputes that claim, but Vice President J.D. Vance defended the agency on January 22, saying federal authorities were targeting Conejo, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador who is accused of trying to flee from immigration authorities. As for the boy, Vance said, “Is it okay to freeze a 5-year-old to death?”
Their release was ordered by U.S. District Judge Fred Bailly on Jan. 31, and Castro said he picked them up later that night and returned to Minnesota on Feb. 1.
“This case stems from the government’s haphazard and incompetent execution of pursuing daily deportation quotas despite the clear need to traumatize children,” Billy wrote in his order. “When the finger of the judiciary touches the levees of the Constitution, it commands.”
In his ruling, Biery compared the administration’s actions to those of King George III, whom the Founding Fathers cited in the Declaration of Independence.
“Thomas Jefferson, 33, enumerated his grievances against the fledgling nation against an authoritarian wannabe king…’We the People’ are hearing echoes of that history,” Billy wrote.
Mr. Castro’s post also included a photo of a handwritten note to Mr. Ramos, asking the child to judge America “not by its days in Dilley, but by the millions of Americans you touched.”
A photo from the time of his arrest showing Ramos outside his home wearing the character’s hat and carrying a Spider-Man backpack was widely shared online. The arrests, along with the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Preti by federal agents, sparked violent protests in Minneapolis and across the country.
President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan last week talked about plans to “reduce” the federal presence in Midwestern states. The Trump administration is sending thousands of employees to Minnesota as part of a wide-ranging and often controversial deportation effort.
USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for the boy’s family for comment.
Contributor: Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY
