A federal judge in Texas has blocked the deportation of a five-year-old boy and his father, who were arrested last week in Minnesota, sparking international outrage. The ruling, issued on Tuesday by Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas, prevents the removal or transfer of Liam Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, from the judicial district while litigation challenging their detention proceeds.
The boy's arrest on 21 January went viral, becoming a symbol of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis area. The father and son were taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they returned home from school. They were subsequently transferred to the Dilley immigration processing centre in Texas, a facility that holds families with children and has faced protests over conditions.
School officials in Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, condemned the arrest, stating that Liam is one of four students detained by federal agents this month. The others include a 17-year-old high school student taken by armed agents without parents present, a 17-year-old girl detained with her mother, and a 10-year-old girl taken with her mother on her way to school. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the operation, claiming it targeted the father and that agents took custody of Liam for his safety after the father allegedly fled.
Attorneys for the family argue that the father and son have an active asylum case and entered the US at an authorised port of entry. They reject the label 'illegal alien' used by officials. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reiterated that ICE did not target the child, alleging that officers tried to have Liam's mother take custody but she refused. The family's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment after the ruling.
The case has drawn attention to the Trump administration's detention of children, with a two-year-old girl and her father also detained in Minneapolis last week and transferred to Texas despite a court order. Judge Biery's order explicitly states that the government 'shall not transfer' the father and son out of the district during the litigation.
