A five-year-old boy and his father have returned to Minneapolis after being released from a Texas immigration detention centre, where they were held for more than a week. US Representative Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, confirmed the release on Sunday, stating: 'Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack. Thank you to everyone who demanded freedom for Liam.' Castro said he collected them from the detention centre and brought them back early on Sunday.
Liam Conejo Ramos and his father Adrian Conejo Arias were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on 20 January. A photo of the five-year-old wearing a bunny hat and plaid coat went viral, sparking outrage after claims the child was used as bait to arrest his mother. On Saturday, a US judge ordered their release, criticising the 'ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatising children.'
On the day of the arrest, Liam was returning from school with his father when immigration agents pulled them from their car near their home in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, according to the school district. The superintendent, Zena Stenvik, said the family had an active asylum case with no deportation order, and questioned why a five-year-old would be detained. The Department of Homeland Security rejected this, claiming the child was 'abandoned' by his father and that the mother refused custody.
Representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett described gruesome conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, where the pair were held. They said children there were 'mentally broken because of the trauma that they’re experiencing.' Crockett noted that children told her they were not in school, contrary to staff claims. Conejo Arias told the representatives that Liam was frequently tired and not eating well.
The family's lawyer stated that Liam and his father entered the US legally from Ecuador, fleeing economic insecurity and unstable employment. They are pursuing an asylum case. The Columbia Heights school district expressed gratitude for support and hope for the release of other detained students. According to the Deportation Data Project, ICE booked about 3,800 minors into immigrant family detention from January to October 2025.
