MINNEAPOLIS – An immigration judge has denied the asylum claim of the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old boy photographed wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack while detained with his father during the immigration crackdown that rocked Minneapolis earlier this year, the family’s attorney said.
He said he had been ordered deported to Ecuador.
The boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, from Ecuador, were arrested on Jan. He was taken into custody in suburban Minneapolis on the 20th and held for 10 days in a Texas detention center before a judge released him.
Lawyers for the family are appealing Judge John Burns’ ruling.
“We are deeply disappointed by the judge’s wrong decision,” said Daniel Molliver. “We are committed to the family and we will fight the appeal, obviously, as best we can.”
An appeal can take years to move through the courts, though the government will push for a speedy process, Molliver said.
“At least, I think we have a couple of months,” he said.
Liam has returned to his suburban Minneapolis school, but Molliver said he and his father are still shaken up by the time he spent in custody.
Now “they are scared” of what could happen, he said.
The arrests and national coverage unfolded during a surge by thousands of immigration officials across the Minneapolis area, which led to daily protests and the shooting death of two American citizens by federal officers.
Neighbors and school officials have accused federal immigration officials of using Liam as “bait,” telling his mother to knock on his door to get him to come out. The Department of Homeland Security called the description of the events “outright false.” Authorities said the father fled on foot, leaving the boy in a vehicle in their driveway. He denied it.
The government said the boy’s father entered the US illegally in December 2024. However, the family’s lawyers say they entered legally, sought asylum and that their right to asylum allows them to remain in the US.
