A Young Boy’s Freedom: Federal Judge Orders Release of 5-Year-Old and Father from Immigration Detention
Emergency Ruling Brings Hope to Separated Family
In a powerful rebuke of current immigration enforcement practices, a federal judge in Texas issued an emergency order on Saturday demanding the immediate release of a 5-year-old boy and his father from immigration detention. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery directed government officials to free Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos and his young son Liam from custody “as soon as practicable,” setting a firm deadline of Tuesday, February 3rd. The father and son had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier in the month during a massive immigration sweep in Minnesota. The judge’s decision came after urgent legal intervention by the family’s attorneys, who filed an emergency request highlighting the traumatic circumstances surrounding the detention of such a young child.
Jennifer Scarborough, one of the lawyers representing the Conejo Ramos family, expressed relief and gratitude following the judge’s decision. “We are now working closely with our clients and their family to ensure a safe and timely reunion,” she told CBS Minnesota. “We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal.” The statement reflects not just legal victory, but the very human dimension of immigration policy—families torn apart, a kindergartener removed from his routine, and parents desperately trying to protect their children. Earlier in the week, Judge Biery had already taken preliminary steps to protect the family, blocking ICE from deporting Liam and his relatives or transferring them away from Texas while the legal proceedings continued. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE operations, did not respond to requests for comment on the judge’s Saturday order.
A Judge’s Scathing Critique of Immigration Enforcement
Judge Biery didn’t simply issue a procedural order—he delivered a stinging condemnation of the policies that led to Liam’s detention. In his written opinion accompanying the ruling, the judge stated that the detention of the young boy and his father “has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.” These are remarkably strong words from a federal judge, suggesting that immigration enforcement has become so focused on meeting numerical targets that the welfare of children has been pushed aside. Biery went even further, invoking one of America’s founding documents in his criticism. He cited the Declaration of Independence, pointedly noting that the government’s ignorance of its principles is “apparent”—a reference to the document’s assertion of inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
In an unprecedented move that underscored the emotional weight of the case, Judge Biery signed his Saturday opinion with a photograph attached—an image that had already captured national attention and sparked widespread outrage. The photo showed little Liam wearing a blue bunny hat and carrying his school backpack as he was being detained by immigration officers. The image encapsulates the human cost of immigration policy: a kindergartener, dressed for a normal day at preschool, suddenly caught up in a federal enforcement action. The visual of such a young child in this situation resonated across the country, transcending political divisions and touching the hearts of parents, educators, and citizens who could imagine their own children in such a frightening scenario. The photograph became a symbol of what many saw as the administration’s overly aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.
Life in Detention and the Family’s Background
Since their arrest on January 20th, Liam and his father have been held at the Dilley ICE detention center in Texas, a facility specifically designed to house immigrant families with minor children who face federal immigration charges. For a 5-year-old child, detention in such a facility—regardless of how family-friendly it claims to be—represents a dramatic and potentially traumatic departure from normal childhood experiences. Instead of attending preschool, playing with friends, and sleeping in his own bed, Liam has spent weeks in a government detention facility, separated from his mother and familiar surroundings. The psychological impact of such experiences on young children has been well-documented by child development experts, who warn that detention and family separation can have lasting effects on a child’s emotional and mental health.
According to the family’s legal representatives, the Conejo Ramos family is originally from Ecuador and entered the United States in 2024 through what was then a legal pathway for asylum-seekers. They reportedly used a Biden-era system that allowed people fleeing danger or seeking refuge to schedule appointments at official border entry points using a mobile phone application. This system was designed to create an orderly, documented process for asylum claims rather than irregular border crossings. However, the Department of Homeland Security has stated it has no record of the family using the app, which was formerly known as CBP One. This discrepancy has become a point of contention, with DHS referring to Liam’s father as an “illegal alien” and making additional allegations about his behavior during the arrest, including claims that he attempted to flee from ICE officers and abandoned Liam in a vehicle.
Disputed Accounts and the Reality of the Arrest
The circumstances of the January 20th arrest remain hotly disputed, with the government’s account differing significantly from what family members and their representatives describe. DHS officials have alleged that when ICE officers tried to arrest Adrian Conejo Ramos, they attempted to give custody of Liam to his mother, but that she refused to take the child. This claim, if true, might suggest that the detention of Liam was not solely the government’s choice. However, individuals who have spoken directly with the family tell a very different story. They maintain that Liam’s mother did not open the door to immigration officers not out of refusal to care for her son, but out of legitimate fear that she too would be arrested and detained, leaving Liam without either parent. This version of events paints a picture of a mother facing an impossible choice—open the door and risk arrest, leaving her child completely alone, or stay hidden and hope the officers would not detain her young son.
What is clear from Justice Department records reviewed by CBS News is that both Liam and his father have active, pending immigration court cases. This legal status is significant: it means they are in deportation proceedings before an immigration judge, but it also means they cannot be legally deported until a judge has fully heard and decided their cases. They are entitled to due process, to present their asylum claims, and to have their day in court. Importantly, lawyers for the family have stated that Adrian Conejo Ramos has no criminal record—a fact that DHS officials have not disputed. This distinguishes the family’s case from the administration’s stated priority of targeting immigrants with criminal backgrounds. Instead, this appears to be a case of a family seeking asylum, with pending legal proceedings, caught up in an aggressive enforcement sweep that resulted in a 5-year-old spending weeks in detention.
The Minneapolis Crackdown and Growing Controversy
The detention of Liam and his father occurred during a massive immigration enforcement operation in the Minneapolis area, involving thousands of federal immigration agents deployed by the Trump administration. This large-scale operation represented one of the most significant domestic deployments of ICE and Border Patrol agents in recent years, transforming communities in Minneapolis into what some described as enforcement zones where immigrant families feared leaving their homes. The deployment has generated intense anger among local political leaders across the political spectrum, who argued they were not adequately consulted and that the operation has disrupted community trust and public safety cooperation. The controversy intensified dramatically when federal officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens and Minneapolis residents, during enforcement activities.
The deaths of Good and Pretti—American citizens killed during an immigration enforcement operation—sparked bipartisan outcry and forced the administration to reconsider its approach. Following intense pressure from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, White House border czar Tom Homan suggested that officials could begin a “drawdown” of federal agents from Minneapolis, though he attached a condition: local officials would need to expand their cooperation with ICE. This response highlighted the tension between federal immigration enforcement priorities and local governance, with city and state leaders in Minnesota arguing that massive federal operations conducted without local coordination actually undermine public safety rather than enhance it. The case of Liam Conejo Ramos became a focal point in this larger debate—a symbol of enforcement priorities that critics argue have lost sight of basic humanity and the best interests of children. As Liam and his father prepare for release following Judge Biery’s order, their story serves as a reminder that behind immigration statistics and policy debates are real families, frightened children, and parents trying to protect them, all caught in the crossfire of America’s ongoing struggle to balance border security with its foundational values of justice and compassion.
