Judge orders family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos deported

An immigration judge has denied an asylum claim and ordered deportation for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old Minnesota boy caught up in the immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

The family is appealing the ruling, Minneapolis-based lawyer Danielle Molliver said.

“They were hopeful, at the minimum, they would get their day in court and have an audience and present their testimony,” she told the Minnesota Star Tribune Thursday.

The ruling came weeks ago but was only made public now. If the appeal fails, the family faces deportation to Ecuador.

Liam’s case made national headlines after a viral video of him wearing a fuzzy, blue bunny hat while being taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

ICE said it had been targeting his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, for an immigration arrest. The father abandoned his vehicle and ran, leaving Liam behind.

The father was eventually caught, and the two were sent to a detention facility in Texas before being freed last month by a federal judge who said the case exposed a “perfidious lust for unbridled power” in the Trump administration.

Paschal Nwokocha, an immigration lawyer working with the family, said the immigration judge didn’t give the family enough of a chance to make its argument for asylum.

“As it is, the challenge we have is that they have not had a chance to actually tell their story to an immigration judge. The judge terminated it without the benefit of them presenting the merits of their case to the court,” he said.

The family entered the U.S. in December 2024, just before the end of the Biden administration.

They lacked a legal visa, but used one of the previous administration’s legally iffy “parole” programs to earn a catch-and-release.

The Jan. 20 encounter was part of Operation Metro Surge, the largest-ever single-location immigration enforcement operation. ICE said Mr. Conejo Arias was a valid target for arrest since he had no legal visa to be in the U.S.

ICE officials said when Mr. Conejo Arias fled, he abandoned Liam, and it was ICE officers who stayed with the boy. They said they tried to get his mother, Erika Ramos, to open the door to take him, but she refused.

Ms. Ramos and officials from Liam’s preschool challenged that, saying they believed ICE was using Liam as bait to get the mother to come outside, where she could be arrested as well. They said other adults were willing to take custody of Liam.

ICE said that without the mother taking custody, its officers took Liam to be reunited with his father, who had been caught. The father was then faced with the choice of either allowing Liam to go into child protective services or bringing him along as Mr. Conejo Arias was taken to ICE’s family detention facility in Texas. He chose to remain together.

They were freed by the judge in early February.

The Columbia Heights Public School District this week described the judge’s ruling as a “heartbreaking” development.

“We understand that this decision will be appealed and remain hopeful for a positive outcome. Our thoughts are with Liam and his family, and we will continue to advocate for and support Liam and all children,” the school district said.