A U.S. federal judge issued a temporary injunction on Tuesday, preventing the deportation of a 5-year-old boy from Ecuador and his father, both of whom were detained in Minnesota last week.

Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias and his young son, Liam Ramos, were apprehended by immigration authorities and are currently held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s order halts their deportation while legal proceedings unfold, and it stipulates that they cannot be moved outside the current judicial district.

News organizations quickly echoed statements from Democrats, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Representative Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who circulated a photo depicting the young boy allegedly detained by ICE after leaving preschool. This image was reportedly provided by Columbia Heights Public Schools.

According to a post from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the child’s mother had abandoned him, and officers complied with the father’s request to keep his son with him. Both are currently housed together at the Dilley facility.

The DHS noted that Conejo had entered the United States illegally in December 2024 and was initially released by the Biden administration. However, the family’s attorney maintains that Conejo has an asylum application pending, which permits him to remain in the country for the time being.

Fox News was told by the agency that Conejo Arias had the opportunity to utilize a process known as VR, voluntary return, to leave the U.S. with no immigration consequences, but he declined. 

President Trump says tougher ICE enforcement is forcing violent criminal illegal immigrants out of the US, citing reverse migration, foreign prison releases and expanded metro raids. (SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS and Ramos’ attorney, Jennifer Scarborough.