A federal judge ordered the release of Adrian Conejo Arias and his five-year-old son, Liam, after they were detained in a Minnesota immigration raid that produced a viral photo of the child wearing a blue bunny hat. Judge Fred Biery condemned enforcement practices tied to "daily deportation quotas," criticized the use of administrative warrants, and called for more humane policy. The father and son, legal asylum applicants from Ecuador, had been transferred to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas; school officials said two 17-year-olds and a 10-year-old were also detained.
Federal Judge Orders Release Of 5-Year-Old And Father Detained In Minnesota Immigration Raid
ICE agents stand next to a boy, who a witness identified as Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old that school officials said was detained in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 20, 2026. Rachel James/via REUTERS
DETROIT, Jan 31 (Reuters) — A federal judge has ordered the release of Adrian Conejo Arias and his five-year-old son, Liam Conejo Ramos, after immigration officers detained them during a raid in a Minneapolis suburb.
The child, photographed wearing a blue bunny hat outside his home as federal agents stood nearby, became the subject of a viral image that drew widespread public attention. Columbia Heights Public School District officials said Liam was one of four students taken into custody earlier this month.
Judge Criticizes Immigration Practices
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sharply criticized the enforcement tactics that led to the detentions, saying the case "has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children." Biery, appointed by President Bill Clinton, issued a three-page order condemning the use of aggressive tactics in immigration enforcement.
Signage is seen in near the South Texas Family Residential Center where Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias and his son, Liam Conejo Ramos, who were detained by federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, are currently being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, U.S., January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee
"Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned," the judge wrote.
Biery also questioned the use of "administrative warrants" issued by immigration officials instead of judicial arrest warrants, calling the practice akin to "the fox guarding the henhouse" and noting the Constitution requires a judge to find probable cause for an arrest.
Family Detained, Transferred To Texas
According to the family's attorney, Marc Prokosch, the Ecuadorean father and son, who entered the United States legally as asylum applicants, were sent to the family detention center in Dilley, Texas. Prokosch and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik said armed and masked officers detained two 17-year-olds and a 10-year-old in addition to Liam, raising broader concerns about in-school or near-school enforcement actions that affect children and families.
The judge's order and the viral photo have prompted renewed debate over immigration enforcement methods, the use of administrative warrants, and how authorities should treat asylum-seeking families and children. The case underscores calls for more orderly and humane immigration policies.
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