Original article: “Liam ya está en casa”: niño de 5 años detenido por el ICE se vuelve símbolo contra las redadas migratorias en EE.UU.
The image of five-year-old Liam, wearing a blue hat and a school backpack while being detained by ICE agents, transcended borders, becoming a representation of the excesses in U.S. immigration policy under the Trump administration.
Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old Ecuadorian boy whose image exposed the harshness of recent immigration raids in the United States (U.S.), was released alongside his father, Adrián, from the family detention center in Dilley, Texas.
This action, ordered by federal judge Fred Biery and executed on Saturday, temporarily ends a weeks-long ordeal that transformed a little boy with a blue rabbit hat and a Spider-Man backpack into a global emblem of the fight against the immigration policies of the Trump administration.
The Conejo Ramos family’s ordeal began on Tuesday, January 20, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Adrián was picking up his son from school when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents intercepted them as part of a mass deportation operation initiated in early 2026.
Democratic Congressman Joaquín Castro, who became one of their main advocates, confirmed the release in a message posted on social media platform X: «Liam, 5, and his father, Adrian, have been released from the Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night (Saturday) and accompanied them back to Minnesota.» He shared a photo of the child relaxing on his home sofa, still sporting his signature hat and backpack.
«Liam is home now. With his hat and backpack. Thank you to everyone who demanded Liam’s freedom. We won’t stop until all children and their families return home,» Castro stated.
The emotional toll of the detention on the boy was severe. During his stay at the center, Liam repeatedly asked about his personal belongings, the blue hat and the backpack he was photographed with while surrounded by agents, an image that circulated worldwide.
After visiting him in Dilley, Castro revealed that Liam’s father expressed concern over his son’s emotional state, indicating that the child «has not been the same» since the arrest.
Liam’s Mother: «They Used My Son as Bait»
Liam’s mother, Erika Ramos, who is pregnant and witnessed the arrest from her home’s window, provided an interview to Noticias Telemundo that contradicts the official narrative.
She recounted how agents used her son as a lure.
«The agents noticed my presence. They took Liam out of the car. They brought him to our front door in an attempt to force me to give in. They knocked on the door, and Liam was asking me to let him in (…) It felt like a deliberate attempt to provoke me, as if they wanted me to rush out desperately for my son to be detained. In other words, they used my child as bait. Still, my husband insisted that I not go outside, especially as we have another child, and I am pregnant. By not opening the door, they took Liam to the car,» she said, tears in her eyes.
«My husband’s intention was to protect us as a responsible father. There have been many false statements in the news, even from Vice President Vance, who claimed my husband is a criminal who fled, leaving our child unprotected. That version is completely false; I was there,» she added.
«Neither of us has a criminal record. Adrián is a hard-working father committed to keeping our family together. He did not resist arrest. All he cared about was our safety,» explained Erika Ramos, clarifying that both entered the U.S. legally in 2024 under the CBP One program, a tool used by immigrants to schedule asylum appointments and apply for humanitarian permits before arriving in the country.
The Danger Persists: Liam and His Father Could Face Deportation
The case of Liam quickly escalated into a political debate in the United States.
While Vice President J.D. Vance defended ICE’s actions in Minneapolis, claiming that the father attempted to flee and that the arrest prevented the child from «freezing to death» on the street, figures like Hillary Clinton condemned the action, stating that «using children as pawns to terrorize the public is far from what it means to enforce the law.».
In his ruling, Judge Biery indicated that while Liam and Adrián could potentially face deportation due to the «archaic» U.S. immigration system, he clarified that «that outcome should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than the current one.» The family is now in Minnesota, continuing their asylum case.
Liam’s story is not an isolated incident; it is the tip of the iceberg of a policy affecting thousands of children. According to an analysis by the Marshall Project, at least 3,800 minors under 18 years old, including 20 infants, have been detained since the current administration began in 2025. Of these, more than 1,300 have remained in custody for over 20 days this year, exceeding the limit established by the Flores Agreement. Leecia Welch, a Child Rights legal advisor, warned after visiting centers that the number of minors has surged, with cases exceeding 100 days of confinement under deplorable conditions.
This pattern is also repeating in other states. A video recording from September 2025 in New England showed agents using a five-year-old girl with autism spectrum disorder to coerce her family, a tactic reinforcing denunciations from human rights organizations.
Minnesota, the epicenter of these raids with around 3,000 federal agents deployed, is engulfed in a climate of terror following the deaths of Alex Jeffrey Pretti and Renee Nicole Good at the hands of agents in January. In the same suburb where Liam was detained, the capture of four other minors has recently been reported, including a ten-year-old child en route to school.
Liam’s release is a victory for advocacy groups and lawmakers who have raised their voices, but it also serves as a somber reminder. As expressed by the school district that Liam attends: «We want all children released from detention centers and families separated unjustly to be reunited.» The Spider-Man backpack is home now, but the fight for the thousands of children still detained and for an immigration policy that respects human dignity is far from over.
