ICE
5-Year-Old & Dad Released from Detention
Published
A 5-year-old boy whose detention by ICE agents sparked national outrage is finally heading home.
Liam Conejo Ramos returned to Minneapolis on Sunday with his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, after the two were released from a family detention center in Texas following nearly two weeks in custody. Footage obtained by ABC News shows the father and son boarding a plane back to Minnesota, with Adrian carrying his sleeping child.
“I’m happy to finally be going home,” Adrian told the network.
Liam and his father went viral in January after ICE agents detained them in their driveway in Minnesota, shortly after returning home from Liam’s preschool. The case quickly drew widespread criticism and concern, especially after reports surfaced about Liam’s health while in detention.
Their release came one day after a judge ordered ICE to free them from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. In a sharply worded ruling, the judge blasted what he described as an “ill-conceived and incompetently government pursuit of daily deportation quotas,” adding it appeared to involve “traumatizing children.”
Adding to the controversy, ICE agents allegedly asked the 5-year-old to knock on his own front door during the arrest to see if anyone else was inside … a move school officials later criticized as using a child as “bait.”
