A judge’s order has led to the release of a five-year-old boy and his father who were detained by immigration officers in Minnesota and subsequently held in Texas. The duo, Liam Conejo Ramos and Adrian Conejo Arias, were initially apprehended in a Minneapolis suburb on Jan. 20 before being transferred to a detention center in Dilley, Texas.
Following their detention, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro’s office confirmed that the father and son have returned to Minnesota. Katherine Schneider, a spokesperson for Castro, verified their arrival back home and mentioned that the Texas congressman personally picked them up in Dilley on Saturday night and accompanied them home to Minnesota the following day.
The incident, which saw images circulating of the young boy in a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack surrounded by immigration officers, sparked widespread criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies in Minneapolis.
In a heartfelt gesture, Castro wrote a letter to Liam during their flight back to Minnesota, expressing how the young boy had touched the hearts of many. The letter, later shared on social media, emphasized that America’s strength and prosperity are rooted in its history of immigration.
Photos shared on Castro’s social media accounts captured Liam donning his signature blue bunny hat and a Pikachu backpack. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, also extended a warm welcome back to the boy, emphasizing that he belongs with his family and in school, not in detention.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who presides in San Antonio, Texas, and was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, criticized the government’s deportation practices in his ruling, highlighting the detrimental impact on children like Liam. The judge condemned the pursuit of deportation quotas at the expense of traumatizing innocent children.
The situation took a distressing turn when neighbors and school officials accused federal immigration officers of using the preschooler as “bait” to apprehend his father. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security refuted these claims, asserting that the father had absconded on foot, leaving the child unattended in a running vehicle at their residence.