Trump lawyers aim to deport five-year-old boy after judge ordered his release | US immigration
Trump administration lawyers are aiming to deport five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, whose photo wearing a bunny hat in snowy Minneapolis went viral last month after he was detained by federal authorities during an aggressive anti-immigrant crackdown there.
The boy, Liam, returned home to Minnesota earlier this week after being taken into custody with his father last month and transferred to a notorious family detention facility in Texas.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Friday it is seeking a deportation order for the Ecuadorian boy.
But the department denied allegations that it was trying to expedite the deportation of her and her father from the United States after the family’s lawyer described the government’s action that way. to the New York Times.
Lawyer Danielle Molliver called the move to the newspaper “extraordinary” and likely “retaliation.”
It was decided that Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who had both applied for legal asylum in the United States, would be released from custody on January 31. The government is trying to end the family’s asylum claims. MPR News reported.
Democratic members of Congress Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Joaquin Castro of Texas are advocating on behalf of the family.
DHS issued a statement through deputy minister Tricia McLaughlin, which was also sent to the Guardian in response to a request for comment.
“These are regular deportations. They are not an expedited deportation process. This is standard procedure and there is nothing retaliatory in the enforcement of the country’s immigration laws,” he said.
Castro, who accompanied Liam and his father to Minnesota last weekend, wrote: in x He said the Trump administration was “trying to take” the child again.
“5-year-old Liam Ramos spent ten days in a trailer prison in Texas. He got sick, missed his mother and school, and was afraid of the guards. Millions of people prayed, spoke, and offered to do whatever they could to see him go home.”
“But now the Trump administration is trying to take it away again,” Castro continued. “They are breaking legal precedent in an attempt to break the spirit of this child and all the Americans who pray for him.”
Lawyers for the Ramos family declined to discuss details of the case and said in an email to the Guardian: “We will pursue our case in front of the immigration court, appeal the erroneous decisions and ensure that US immigration law works for our clients.”
Liam’s detention was the latest example of the Trump administration’s practices in detaining minors. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained nearly 3,800 minors, including children as young as one or two, in immigrant family custody between January and October 2025, according to the Guardian’s analysis of records obtained by the Deportation Data Project.
More than 2,600 of these children were apprehended by ICE officers; This means they are usually caught somewhere within the country rather than across the border.
Reuters contributed reporting
