The Trump administration is seeking a deportation order for five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos after he and his father were detained and later ordered released on 31 January. DHS says these are regular removal proceedings and not expedited or retaliatory, while the family’s lawyers call the move "extraordinary" and plan to challenge it in immigration court. Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Ilhan Omar and Joaquin Castro, have advocated for the family. The case highlights a wider rise in family detention: ICE booked about 3,800 minors into family detention from January to October 2025.
Trump Administration Seeks Deportation Order for 5-Year-Old Liam Ramos After Judge Ordered Release
Adrian Conejo Arias and his son, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, in San Antonio, Texas, on 31 January 2026, after being released from ICE detention.Photograph: Joaquin Castro/AP(Photograph: Joaquin Castro/AP)
Attorneys for the Trump administration are seeking a deportation order for five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, the Ecuadorian child whose photo in a bunny hat amid snow in Minneapolis drew international attention after federal agents detained him during a recent immigration sweep.
Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who entered the United States as asylum applicants, were taken into custody last month and transferred to a family detention facility in Texas. The pair were ordered released from detention on 31 January, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it is pursuing removal proceedings for the family.
Government Statement and Family Response
The DHS, through assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin, told reporters these are "regular removal proceedings" and not expedited removal, characterizing the action as routine enforcement of immigration law rather than retaliatory. The statement was provided to the Guardian in response to a request for comment.
Family attorneys told the New York Times that the government’s move looked aimed at speeding the removal of Liam and his father; the DHS denied that characterization. Danielle Molliver, the family's lawyer, described the government action to the newspaper as "extraordinary" and possibly "retaliatory." The Ramos family’s legal team said they will challenge any erroneous decisions before the immigration court.
Political Reaction and Advocacy
Democratic members of Congress, including Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), have publicly advocated for the family. Castro escorted Liam and his father back to Minnesota last weekend and wrote on X that the administration was "trying to take him again," saying the child had been sick, missed his mother and school, and was frightened while detained.
"Liam Ramos, 5, spent ten days in a Texas trailer prison. He got sick, missed his mother and school, and was afraid of the guards. Millions prayed, spoke up, and offered to do whatever they could to see him go home," Castro wrote. "But now, the Trump administration is trying to take him again."
Wider Context: Rising Family Detention
Liam's case has become emblematic of a broader increase in the detention of minors under current immigration enforcement policies. A Guardian analysis of records obtained from the Deportation Data Project found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) booked about 3,800 minors into immigrant family detention from January to October 2025, including children as young as one and two years old. More than 2,600 of those minors were recorded as having been apprehended by ICE officers inside the United States rather than at the border.
Lawyers for the Ramos family declined to disclose case specifics publicly but said they would "make our case before the immigration court, challenging any erroneous decisions, and ensure that the US immigration law works for our clients." Reuters contributed reporting.
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