People of Detention

Synopsis

On January 20, 2026, ICE agents detained Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old prekindergarten student at Valley View Elementary, as he returned home from school in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, with his father Adrian Conejo Arias. According to witness statements and the family's attorney, multiple adults were available to take custody of Liam, but ICE arrested him anyway. School officials said agents used the child as "bait" to get residents to open the door. The father and son each had an active asylum claim and no order of deportation at the time of detention; they had entered the United States from Ecuador in 2024 to request asylum. Liam and his father were taken to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. He was the fourth student from the Columbia Heights School District detained by ICE that day. On January 27, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery blocked the government from deporting them or removing them from the court's jurisdiction. On January 31, Biery ordered Liam and his father released. In his order, Biery condemned the detention as driven by "perfidious lust for unbridled power" and linked to an "ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children." Liam and his father were released and returned to Minneapolis on February 1.

Key takeaways

From court records, news reporting, and linked sources below.

ICE detained a 5-year-old on his walk home from school in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, on January 20, 2026, during Operation Metro Surge.
School officials said ICE used Liam as "bait" to get the family to open the door; the family's attorney stated multiple adults were available to take custody but ICE arrested him anyway.
Liam and his father Adrian Conejo Arias had an active asylum claim and no deportation order at the time of detention; they had entered the U.S. from Ecuador in 2024 to request asylum.
Liam and his father were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.
Liam was the fourth student from the Columbia Heights School District detained by ICE that day; a 17-year-old was also taken from his car.
On January 27, Judge Fred Biery blocked deportation and removal from the court's jurisdiction while the family pursued a legal challenge.
On January 31, Biery ordered Liam and his father released; they returned to Minneapolis on February 1.
Biery condemned the detention as driven by "perfidious lust for unbridled power" and tied to a government pursuit of "daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children."
Images of Liam in his blue hat and Spider-Man backpack guarded by federal agents became a symbol of the indiscriminate nature of the immigration crackdown (per El País).
Dozens of children at the Dilley facility staged a protest shouting "libertad"; the community created origami rabbits in solidarity (Conejo means "rabbit" in Spanish).

Liam Conejo Ramos

Synopsis

Key takeaways

Reference links

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