A five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father have been released from detention following a judge’s ruling. The pair, previously held by immigration officials in Minnesota and subsequently transferred to an ICE facility in Texas, have returned to their home state of Minnesota, as confirmed by Texas Representative Joaquin Castro.
The father and son were detained on January 20 in a suburb of Minneapolis and were taken to a detention center located in Dilley, Texas. Castro’s spokesperson, Katherine Schneider, verified that they have safely returned home. She noted that Castro personally picked them up from Dilley on Saturday night and accompanied them back to Minnesota on Sunday.
The Department of Homeland Security was contacted for comments regarding their release, but no immediate response was received.
Images of Liam, wearing a bunny hat and carrying a Spider-Man backpack while surrounded by immigration officers, sparked significant outrage concerning the Trump administration’s immigration policies in the Minneapolis area. Local residents and school officials accused federal immigration officers of using the young child as “bait” by instructing him to knock on the door of his home to lure his mother outside. The Department of Homeland Security has dismissed this account, labeling it an “abject lie,” and stated that the father fled on foot, leaving the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.
In a heartfelt gesture, Castro wrote a letter to Liam while they were en route to Minnesota, expressing that the young boy has “moved the world.” In his social media message, Castro reassured Liam, saying, “Your family, school, and many strangers said prayers for you and offered whatever they could do to see you back home. Don’t let anyone tell you this isn’t your home. America became the most powerful, prosperous nation on earth because of immigrants, not in spite of them.”
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, also welcomed Liam back to his home state, emphasizing that he “should be in school and with family — not in detention,” and called for ICE to cease its actions.
