The Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, announced on Sunday that the five-year-old boy and his father, who had been detained in Minneapolis by ICE last month, were released over the weekend without having applied for asylum. Blanche clarified that, contrary to some public claims, the family had not pursued asylum status.

The situation surrounding Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, has been murky, with conflicting reports about their legal standing. The pair reportedly entered the United States in 2024, yet discrepancies remain between official accounts and the assertions made by their legal representatives. Lawyers for the Ecuadorian family insist that they have an asylum application in progress, which ostensibly grants them the right to stay in the U.S. while awaiting a court decision.

However, Blanche refuted the claim of an active asylum case, aligning with the Department of Homeland Security’s stance that the family was illegally present in the country. He stressed during his appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that the notion of a pending asylum claim was inaccurate.

“There’s a significant disagreement regarding whether they properly applied for asylum,” Blanche stated. “I can’t delve into the specifics of this litigation, but the publicly available briefs do not support the claim that they have an ongoing asylum case.”

Blanche further noted that although some immigrants detained do not have criminal records, the Trump administration views unauthorized entry as a criminal act. Consequently, they believe individuals in such situations merit detention.

While some immigrants detained by federal agents do not have prior criminal records, Blanche added that the Trump administration considers unauthorized entry into the U.S. a crime and believes such individuals should be detained.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche arrives for a press conference on August 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“The fact that they’re here illegally is a crime,” he said. “And so when you say they don’t have criminal records, they are – by their presence being here without status, having come into this country illegally or overstayed illegally, that is a crime.”

“There is a schism in the law right now about whether an illegal alien can be held pending their proceeding or whether they need to be released on bail,” he added. “We very strongly believe that they should be held and there’s a bunch of appellate cases.”

Liam Conejo Ramos sits with father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias after getting released from a detention facility in Texas. (Joaquin Castro)

Blanche’s comments come after several days of widespread backlash from attorneys and lawmakers who condemned the operation that detained the five‑year‑old when his father picked him up from school on Jan. 20.

The boy and his father were released from a detention center in Dilley, Texas, on Saturday, after a judge issued a ruling earlier in the day.  

Liam Conejo Ramos and his father pass through airport security after their release from federal custody on Feb. 1, 2026. (Joaquin Castro)

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, posted on social media Sunday that he picked up the family Saturday night and escorted them back to Minnesota the next morning.

In a letter he also shared, the congressman wrote to the boy: “Don’t let anyone tell you this isn’t your home. America became the most powerful, prosperous nation on earth because of immigrants not in spite of them.”

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, poses with Liam Conejo Ramos, father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., following the family’s release from a detention center in Texas. (Rep. Ilhan Omar)

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., celebrated their release on social media with a photo of her standing next to the family and Castro, writing, “Liam is home now and we are grateful to Joaquin Castro for traveling to Minneapolis with him and his dad. Welcome home Liam.”