{"id":444593,"date":"2026-02-02T12:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/444593\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T12:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:28:19","slug":"5-year-old-liam-ramos-returns-home-as-trump-administration-shifts-tone-amid-nationwide-anti-ice-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/444593\/","title":{"rendered":"5-year-old Liam Ramos returns home as Trump administration shifts tone amid nationwide anti-ICE protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

The phrase \u201cICE Out\u201d echoed across the nation this weekend as protesters took to the streets, calling for an end to the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown. Meanwhile, a preschooler and his father, taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over a week ago, returned home<\/a> following a judge\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n

Protesters marked a second day of rallies and marches Saturday after a nationwide strike on Friday<\/a> prompted a shutdown of schools, workplaces and businesses from coast to coast. As demonstrations kicked off Saturday, President Donald Trump said he instructed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to intervene in protests<\/a> or unrest in Democratic-led cities unless local officials formally request assistance.<\/p>\n

Noem echoed Trump\u2019s push to ease tensions in Minnesota Sunday, telling Fox News, \u201cWe can always do better, and we learn from every situation that we\u2019re in.\u201d The comments mark a shift in tone from last weekend, when the secretary claimed Alex Pretti<\/a> \u201ccommitted an act of domestic terrorism\u201d to justify his killing by CBP agents, despite the claim being contradicted by video footage or unsupported by any evidence presented so far.<\/p>\n

People in major US cities continue to voice their solidarity with Minneapolis, where the killings of Pretti and Renee Good<\/a> have transformed the national conversation on immigration enforcement and appear to have driven a tone shift<\/a> from the White House in recent days. Demonstrations have continued in cities such as Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, Portland and Austin over Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Sunday that despite Trump dispatching border czar Tom Homan<\/a> last week to shift strategy on the ground in Minneapolis and recent outreach to lawmakers by the administration, \u201cultimately, the President will be the decider on any policy changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the courts, several legal battles challenging Trump\u2019s immigration policies continue to play out, with a federal judge issuing a scathing opinion Saturday, ordering the release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos<\/a> and his father from a Texas detention center.<\/p>\n

Liam and his father returned to Minneapolis Sunday morning after being held for more than a week in Texas, according to Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro.<\/a><\/p>\n

Liam\u2019s detention became another flashpoint in the criticism over heavy-handed immigration enforcement tactics<\/a> used by the feds and fueled mounting outrage from community members and officials alike.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a different judge denied a request<\/a> from Minnesota, St. Paul and Minneapolis to halt Operation Metro Surge \u2013 the federal immigration operation that has seen thousands of agents dispatched to the Twin Cities. Local and state officials sued the federal government earlier this month, calling the operation a \u201cfederal invasion\u201d that involves warrantless arrests and excessive force.<\/p>\n

While the Department of Homeland Security celebrated the ruling, which allows the operation to continue while the lawsuit plays out, city and state officials said they were \u201cdisappointed\u201d by the decision while reasserting their commitment to pursuing the case.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro said he escorted Liam and his father home from Texas to Minnesota. – Office of Joaquin Castro<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest:<\/p>\n

Trump and local police narratives clash: Local and state governments will be responsible for protecting their own property, along with federal property, with federal officials serving as a backstop, the president said, while warning against attacks<\/a> on law enforcement. He cited an incident in Eugene, Oregon, claiming protesters broke into a federal building and damaged property while police failed to intervene. But the city\u2019s police chief disputed that characterization of the response to the incident \u2013 which they declared a riot \u2013 saying officers ordered people to leave the area after breaches at entry points.<\/p>\n

Liam Ramos released: US District Judge Fred Biery admonished the Trump administration<\/a> and ordered the preschooler and his father be released. The case against Liam \u2013 who was detained for more than a week with his father \u2013 originated in \u201cthe ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children,\u201d Biery wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ICE \u201con notice\u201d in Chicago: The city\u2019s Mayor Brandon Johnson on Saturday signed an executive order<\/a> directing city police to investigate and document alleged misconduct by federal immigration officers with an eye toward prosecution. The move comes as nine local district attorneys launched a coalition<\/a> this week to assist in prosecuting federal law enforcement officers who violate state laws.<\/p>\n

Journalists released from federal custody: Former CNN anchor Don Lemon<\/a> and independent journalist Georgia Fort were released Friday<\/a> after being arrested in connection with a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lemon vowed to fight the charges against him, which include conspiring to violate someone\u2019s constitutional rights and violating the FACE Act. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department\u2019s decision to bring charges against Lemon, pushing back on claims that the case criminalizes journalism or was pursued for political reasons.\u201cThere was absolutely probable cause that a crime had been committed,\u201d Blanche told CNN\u2019s Dana Bash on \u201cState of the Union.\u201d Lemon is scheduled to appear on \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d<\/a> Monday night.<\/p>\n

Jail cooperation is key to federal drawdown: White House border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday he is working on a plan to eventually reduce the number of federal agents<\/a> in Minnesota, but he said the move will rely on whether local authorities allow ICE to take custody of immigrants in prisons and jails. Within hours, Trump appeared to contradict him<\/a>, denying claims he was not pulling back.<\/p>\n

DOJ to investigate Pretti shooting: The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting of Pretti, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday. The announcement means the agency is looking into whether the DHS officers<\/a> who shot Pretti violated the law and marks an expansion of the federal government\u2019s investigation into the matter. Later, Blanche said it was a \u201cstandard investigation by the FBI.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN\u2019s Holmes Lybrand, Elizabeth Wolfe, Lauren Mascarenhas, Ray Sanchez, Whitney Wild and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The phrase \u201cICE Out\u201d echoed across the nation this weekend as protesters took to the streets, calling for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[203372,23,12,46162,208120,4801,4381,208119,16950,3,173308,1022,116294,29207,21,19,22,20,25,24,3123],"class_list":["post-444593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-alex-pretti","tag-america","tag-donald-trump","tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-joaquin-castro","tag-kristi-noem","tag-law-enforcement","tag-liam-conejo-ramos","tag-minneapolis","tag-news","tag-state-officials","tag-texas","tag-todd-blanche","tag-tom-homan","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}