Bundled up in his tiny plaid coat and blue knit bunny hat, 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos stared forward with a clean look as brokers huddled round him earlier than bringing him into federal custody together with his father.
In the driveway of their house in suburban Minneapolis, a masked federal agent held the deal with of the boy’s Spiderman backpack as he bought right into a snow-streaked black SUV – and later, on a airplane together with his father to a family detention facility in Texas.
What precisely led Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take Liam and his dad greater than 1,300 miles from house stays in dispute.
But the boy’s plight – and his now unsure future – sparked renewed outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown, which has additionally ensnared kids.
Liam is now the fourth child from his school district to be taken away by ICE in simply the previous two weeks, Columbia Heights Public Schools mentioned.
Here’s what we know about Liam’s story:
Liam and his household are initially from Ecuador and introduced themselves to frame officers in Texas in December 2024 to use for asylum, mentioned the household’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch.
“These are not illegal aliens,” Prokosch mentioned. “They were following all the established protocols, pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings, and posed no safety, no flight risk and never should have been detained.”
While Liam and his father had been pursuing a authorized course of to acquire standing within the United States, their claims remained pending.
The Department of Homeland Security described Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, as an “illegal alien” who was the goal of the operation that in the end landed him and his son in federal custody, and disputed that the daddy legally entered the US.
Liam’s father doesn’t seem to have a legal report in Minnesota, in line with Prokosch.
Three days after the arrest of Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, Homeland Security officers haven’t shared any potential legal historical past related to him, and in line with a supply acquainted with the matter, Homeland Security data don’t counsel he has a legal historical past. NCS’s search of public data additionally didn’t reveal any legal report. Arias didn’t have a legal report in Ecuador, his origin nation, in line with the nation’s Interior Ministry.
When requested about any potential legal historical past, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin mentioned: “The law requires those in the country illegally claiming fearing to be detained pending removal. You can look it up in the statute.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly mentioned it is concentrating on “violent criminals” and the “worst of the worst” in its immigration sweeps, although Homeland Security officers have additionally acknowledged that over the course of operations different immigrants could also be picked up too.
Liam was simply steps away from his house, where his mom was inside. Why he was separated from his mother is a degree of debate.
DHS said Liam’s “alleged mother REFUSED to take custody of her own child” regardless of “multiple attempts to get the mother inside the house to take custody of her child.”
But Liam’s mom, who is pregnant and additionally has a teenage son, was “terrified” of the brokers outdoors her door, mentioned Pastor Sergio Amezcua, who has been serving to the mom since her husband and son had been detained.
“ICE agents were trying to use the baby to get her to come out of her house, but the neighbors … advised her not to do it,” fearing she could be detained, Amezcua mentioned.
ICE disputed that declare, saying the company has never “used a child as bait.”
“My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family,” mentioned Marcos Charles, the appearing government affiliate director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.
DHS mentioned the daddy “abandoned” his baby when brokers tried to apprehend him. The company additionally mentioned officers “took care of the child, got him McDonald’s and played him his favorite music to comfort him.”
5-year-old boy taken by ICE being held with dad at Texas facility
A 5-year-old who was taken by federal brokers from the driveway of his metro Minneapolis house Tuesday after coming back from preschool. The baby is being held together with his father at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas, a supply acquainted with the state of affairs mentioned. The Department of Homeland Security informed NCS that ICE didn’t goal the kid. NCS’s Priscilla Alvarez stories.
Agents took the boy with them after his father informed officers he needed Liam to stick with him, according to DHS.
One of the witnesses who was driving by and noticed brokers take Liam away was Mary Granlund – the school board chair at Columbia Heights Public Schools.
She described a commotion on the scene, with onlookers telling brokers: “What are you doing? Don’t take the child!”
One particular person pleaded: “There are people here that can take him,” Granlund mentioned. “There was another adult who lived in the home that was there saying, ‘I will take the child. I will take the child.’”
When somebody acknowledged the varsity board chair, Granlund mentioned, they yelled: “The school is here! They can take the child. You don’t have to take them.”
Liam’s mom appeared out the window, Granlund mentioned, however Liam’s father was yelling, “Please do not open the door! Don’t open the door!”
Parents can ask ICE to position a baby with a delegated guardian. Generally, ICE would run a verify on that particular person to make sure the kid’s security, although it’s unclear whether or not particular paperwork could be wanted to make that switch.
Liam, a pupil within the “PreK 4” program at Valley View Elementary, isn’t the one baby from his college district who has been taken away by federal brokers. Three different college students have additionally been taken by ICE, school officials said.
Also on Tuesday, a 17-year-old Columbia Heights High School pupil on the best way to highschool was taken by armed, masked agents, Columbia Heights Public Schools mentioned.
“No parents were present,” the varsity district mentioned. “The student was removed from their car and taken away.”
Last week, ICE brokers entered the condominium of one other 17-year-old highschool pupil and her mom. Both had been detained, the district mentioned.
And a fourth grader was taken by ICE brokers on her strategy to college along with her mom two weeks in the past. The 10-year-old is nonetheless in a Texas detention middle, the varsity district mentioned on Wednesday.
NCS has requested DHS for particulars on these instances.
During a go to to Minneapolis on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance mentioned he understood the preliminary concern over Liam’s story and maintained that the daddy fled when brokers moved to arrest him.
“I’m a father of a 5-year-old – actually a 5-year-old little boy – and I think to myself, ‘Oh my God, this is terrible. How did we arrest a five-year-old?’” Vance mentioned at a information convention.
“So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?” he added.
Where Liam and his dad are being held now
Liam and his dad had been taken throughout the nation to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas – an ICE facility for households, Prokosch mentioned.
Hundreds of households have been held at Dilley, together with kids starting from infants to youngsters. While the power contains options for kids – comparable to a health club, a library, and lecture rooms – attorneys and advocates have reported poor situations and considerations over kids getting uprooted from their each day routines and held in a detention middle to no fault of their very own.
This story has been up to date with extra info.
NCS’s Sara Sidner, Meridith Edwards, Marlon Sorto, Ana María Cañizares Chris Boyette, Carma Hassan, Laura Coates and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.