Liam Conejo Ramos and his father Adrian were escorted home by Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro.
Published February 1, 2026
A 5-year-old boy and his father, who were detained as part of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration raids and held in a Texas detention center, have returned to their home in Minnesota.
Liam Conejo Ramos, an asylum seeker from Ecuador, and his father Adrian spent 10 days in the Dilley detention center before U.S. District Judge Fred Bailly ordered their release on Saturday.
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U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, wrote in a social media post that he picked them up at the jail Saturday night and escorted them home Sunday.
“Liam is home now. He has his hat and backpack,” Castro wrote, including a photo of the child. “We will not stop until all children and families are home.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Liam and his father on January 20, when the boy returned home from kindergarten.
Images of a boy wearing a blue bunny hat and carrying a backpack being held by a police officer went viral around the world, igniting public anger over the federal immigration crackdown. During the crackdown, officials shot and killed two Americans.
Liam was one of four students detained by immigration authorities in the Minneapolis suburb, according to the Columbia Heights Public School District.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that ICE did not target or arrest Liam, and that Liam’s mother refused to take him after his father was arrested. The father told officers he wanted Liam to stay with him.
“The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system and will continue to fight to arrest, detain and deport aliens who have no right to be in this country,” McLaughlin said.
Neighbors and school officials say federal immigration agents used the preschooler as a “bait” by asking him to knock on the child’s door in hopes that his mother would answer.
DHS said this account of events is “a complete lie.” The father fled on foot, leaving the boy in a car in the driveway.
“This case stems from the government’s haphazard and incompetent execution of pursuing daily deportation quotas despite the clear need to traumatize children,” Biery wrote in a scathing opinion.
He criticized the government’s apparent “ignorance” about the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which he said “enumerates the grievances of an authoritarian wannabe king against a fledgling nation.”
Biery also cited the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects people’s rights from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota posted a photo on social media of Liam, his father and Castro, as well as a photo of Liam holding Liam’s Spider-Man backpack.
“Liam, welcome back,” he posted with two hearts.
