{"id":146969,"date":"2026-02-02T00:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/146969\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T00:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:36:09","slug":"5-year-old-liam-conejo-ramos-and-father-return-to-minnesota-from-ice-facility-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/146969\/","title":{"rendered":"5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and father return to Minnesota from ICE facility in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, who were detained by immigration officers in Minnesota and held at an ICE facility in Texas, have been released following a judge\u2019s order.<\/a> They have returned to Minnesota, according to Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro.<\/p>\n

The boy and his dad, Adrian Conejo Arias, who is originally from Ecuador, were detained in a Minneapolis suburb on Jan. 20. They were taken to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas.<\/p>\n

Katherine Schneider, a spokesperson for the Democratic congressman, confirmed the two had arrived home. She said Castro picked them up from Dilley on Saturday night and escorted them home on Sunday to Minnesota.<\/p>\n

In a statement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not target or arrest Liam Conejo Ramos, and that his mother refused to take him after his father\u2019s apprehension. His father told officers he wanted Liam to be with him, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system, and will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country,\u201d McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n

The government said the boy’s father entered the U.S. illegally from Ecuador in December 2024. The family\u2019s lawyer said he has an asylum claim pending that allows him to stay in the U.S. <\/p>\n

The Justice Department\u2019s Executive Office for Immigration Review\u2019s online court docket shows no future hearings for Liam\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of asylum-seekers are released in the United States, with adults having eligibility for work permits, while their cases wind through a backlogged court system. Ecuadorians, who left in droves in recent years as their country spiraled into violence, have fared poorly in immigration court, with judges granting asylum in 12.5% of decisions in the 12-month period through September, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.<\/p>\n

Images of the young boy wearing a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack and surrounded by immigration officers drew outrage about the Trump administration’s crackdown in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n

In his order granting the release, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery blasted the administration, writing, \u201cThe case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neighbors and school officials say that federal immigration officers used the preschooler as \u201cbait\u201d<\/a> by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an \u201cabject lie.\u201d It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.<\/p>\n

Residents celebrate release<\/p>\n

On Sunday afternoon, residents of Columbia Heights, Minnesota, gathered outside the house where Liam was detained to celebrate his release and call attention to others from the community who remained in ICE detention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cried so much when we heard that he was coming back,\u201d said Lourdes Sanchez, the owner of a cleaning business. \u201cMy son is also named Liam, and he is five years old, so it felt personal for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearby, Luis Zuna held up photographs of his 10-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who he said had been detained, along with her mother, Rosa, while driving to school on Jan. 6. He said they both remained in custody at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in San Antonio \u2013 the same facility where Liam and his father were held.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same situation as Liam, but there were no pictures,\u201d said Carolina Gutierrez, who works as a secretary at the school that Elizabeth attended. \u201cSeeing Liam released, it gives us faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inquiries to the Department of Homeland Security about that case were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n

Brenda Marquez, another nearby resident, said she had driven with her husband and two young children to the house immediately upon hearing news of Liam\u2019s release, stopping on the way to pick up Spiderman balloons. \u201cWe wanted something that would bring a little happiness,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing away from my son and not knowing what\u2019s going on with him, I just can\u2019t imagine it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congressman writes letter to Liam<\/p>\n

Castro wrote a letter to Liam while they were on the plane to Minnesota, in which he told the young boy he has \u201cmoved the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour family, school and many strangers said prayers for you and offered whatever they could do to see you back home,\u201d Castro wrote. A photo of the letter was posted on social media. \u201cDon\u2019t let anyone tell you this isn\u2019t your home. America became the most powerful, prosperous nation on earth because of immigrants not in spite of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos on Castro\u2019s social media showed Liam wearing his blue bunny hat and with a Pikachu backpack.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar,<\/a> a Democrat from Minnesota, welcomed the boy back to Minnesota, saying in a social media post that he \u201cshould be in school and with family \u2014 not in detention.\u201d The senator added: \u201cNow ICE needs to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar,<\/a> also a Democrat from Minnesota, posted a photo to social media of her with Liam, his father and Castro in which she is holding Liam\u2019s Spider-Man backpack. \u201cWelcome home Liam,\u201d she posted with two hearts.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Columbia Heights Public Schools called Liam\u2019s release \u201can important development,\u201d one that school officials hope will have positive developments for four other Columbia Heights students held at the same facility in Texas. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota. Associated Press writers Jake Offenhartz contributed from Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and Elliot Spagat from San Diego.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, who were detained by immigration officers in Minnesota and held at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[145,21085,61244,57501,82,84,83,1499],"class_list":["post-146969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-donald-trump","tag-joaquin-castro","tag-katherine-schneider","tag-liam-conejo-ramos","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}