ICE Detains 5-Year-Old Boy; Judge Orders Release with Strong Rebuke

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A US federal judge has ordered the release of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father from the South Texas Family Residential Centre in Dilley, Texas, according to a ruling obtained by CNN.

Liam and his father, Adrian, were taken by immigration agents from their snowy suburban Minneapolis driveway and sent 2100 kilometres to a Texas detention facility designed to detain families. They have been detained for more than a week.

The order specifies the preschooler and his father be released “as soon as practicable” and no later than Tuesday as their immigration case proceeds through the court system. The ruling, shared with CNN by the judge’s courtroom deputy, was first reported by the San Antonio Express-News.

Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, is detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after arriving home from preschool, Tuesday, January 20, 2026, in a Minneapolis suburb.(Representative Joaquin Castro via AP)

The Department of Homeland Security has labeled Liam’s father as an “illegal alien,” a claim contested by the family’s legal representative, who insists they entered the U.S. lawfully while seeking asylum.

According to the family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, Liam and his Ecuadorian family approached border officials in Texas in December 2024 to request asylum.

Liam’s father and mother left Ecuador in pursuit of “a good life,” aiming to escape the country’s economic distress and job instability, as explained by his brother Luis Conejo to CNN.

Prokosch notes that Liam’s father has no known criminal record in Minnesota. Department of Homeland Security officials have not provided any criminal history for Conejo Arias, and a source with knowledge of the situation informed CNN that no criminal history seems to exist.

When questioned about any potential criminal background, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated, “The law requires those in the country illegally claiming fear to be detained pending removal. You can look it up in the statute.”

CNN’s investigation has not uncovered any criminal record for Arias from public sources. Moreover, according to Ecuador’s Interior Ministry, he does not have a criminal record in his home country.

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