By Jasper Ward, Reuters

Federal law enforcement agents confront anti-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a demonstration over the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 9, 2026. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed an American woman on the streets of Minneapolis January 7, leading to huge protests and outrage from local leaders who rejected White House claims she was a domestic terrorist. The woman, identified in local media as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was hit at point blank range as she apparently tried to drive away from agents who were crowding around her car, which they said was blocking their way. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP)

President Donald Trump and top officials have said they aimed to de-escalate tensions in Minnesota.
Photo: OCTAVIO JONES / AFP

The US Department of Homeland Security says it is seeking to deport a five-year-old Ecuadorean boy, who was detained in Minnesota last month.

The department, which has federal oversight of immigration enforcement, denied it was seeking expedited removal, after a lawyer for the boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, told the New York Times that the Trump administration was seeking an expedited deportation.

Lawyer Danielle Molliver described the move as “extraordinary” and possibly “retaliatory”.

“These are regular removal proceedings,” department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. “This is standard procedure and there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.”

Lawyers for Liam and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Liam and father Adrian Conejo Arias, who both entered the US legally as asylum applicants, were detained at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Dilley, Texas, until a judge ordered their release on 31 January.

They returned to Minnesota following their release. The Trump administration defended the move, with the Department of Homeland Security accusing Conejo Arias of being in the US illegally, without providing additional details.

The case of the five-year-old, who was photographed wearing a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack outside his house, when federal agents apprehended him, gained national attention in the US.

President Donald Trump and top officials have said in recent weeks that they aimed to de-escalate tensions in Minnesota, after Trump deployed thousands of agents to the state as part of his immigration crackdown.

Protests have erupted across Minnesota in opposition to the deployment of immigration agents, who have fatally shot two US citizens in the state.

– Reuters