Judge Orders Release Of 5-Year-Old Boy Detained By ICE In MN

A federal judge on Saturday ordered the release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father after they were detained by immigration officers in Minneapolis last week, according to reports by NBC News and The Associated Press.

Liam, a preschool student in the Columbia Heights school district, and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained on Jan. 20 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and taken to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.

Images of Liam in a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack, surrounded by ICE officers, sparked even more outcry about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. It also led to a protest at the Texas detention center and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery said in a scathing ruling that “the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”

Biery had previously ruled that the boy and his father could not be removed from the United States, at least for now.

In his order, Biery also said: “apparent also is the government's ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence,” suggesting the Trump administration's actions echo those that author and future President Thomas Jefferson enumerated as grievances against England.

Biery also included in his ruling a photo of Liam Conejo Ramos and references to two lines in the Bible: “Jesus said, ’Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” and “Jesus wept.”

Federal agents took Liam from a running car in his family's driveway, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik told reporters after the incident. The officers told him to knock on the door to his home to see if other people were inside, “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait," she said.

The father told the child's mother, who was inside the home and has not been named, not to open the door, Stenvik told reporters.

The family, who came to the U.S. in 2024, has an active asylum case and has not been ordered to leave the country, according to both Stenvik and the family's lawyer.

Earlier this week, Stenvik said Liam has been sick and showing signs of distress while in federal custody.

"Unfortunately, Liam’s health is not doing great right now," Stenvik said. "He’s been ill. I’ve been told he has a fever. So I’m very, very concerned about his well-being in that facility."

Liam’s mother told MPR News earlier this week that her son has been vomiting, experiencing stomach pain, running a fever, and refusing to eat, blaming poor-quality food at the detention center.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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