(The Epoch Times)—A federal judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father after the detention of the boy’s father last week in a Minnesota suburb.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued the order Monday, prohibiting the removal or transfer of Liam Conejo Ramos and his father Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias from the country while their court case continues. The pair are being held at a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, southwest of San Antonio.
The arrest of the boy’s father took place Jan. 20 outside their home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, shortly after the child came home from preschool.
School officials issued a news release on Jan. 21 claiming that federal immigration agents apprehended the child and used him as “bait” to gain entry into the home.
According to Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents refused to let another adult living in the home care for the small child while his father was detained outside.
“Instead, the agent took the child out of the still-running vehicle, led him to the door, and directed him to knock—asking to be let in to see if anyone else was home—essentially using a 5-year-old as bait,” said Stenvik, according to the release.
Liam’s middle-school brother found both father and brother missing 20 minutes later, the superintendent said.
The Department of Homeland Security has called the portrayal of the events an “abject lie.”
“ICE did NOT target, arrest a child or use a child as ‘bait,’” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said on X. “ICE law enforcement officers were the only people primarily concerned with the welfare of this child.”
Conejo Arias fled on foot as agents approached, leaving the boy behind in the vehicle, DHS says. An agent stayed with the child for safety while other agents pursued the father.
McLaughlin also said that officers “made multiple attempts to get the alleged mother who was inside the house to take custody of her child,” but she refused.
“During this situation, agitators swarmed the scene and began yelling and blowing horns, scaring the child,” she said.
DHS notes that parents facing removal can choose to be deported with their children or arrange alternative care, which aligns with the policies of previous administrations.
Agents heeded the father’s wishes to keep the boy with him, McLaughlin said. DHS noted that officers “even got the child McDonald’s and played his favorite music. Father and son are together at Dilley.”
Federal officials say Conejo Arias is in the country illegally, with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller clarifying that the man entered the country in December 2024.
The family’s attorney, Jennifer Scarborough, says he has a pending asylum claim that permits him to stay in the country.
A neighbor recalled hearing pleas from inside the home as the agents were begged not to take the boy. The school district showed pictures of the child being led away, leading to protests at detention facilities in Texas.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that ICE has arrested 10,000 criminal illegal immigrants as of Jan. 19, many “killing Americans, hurting children, and reigning terror in Minneapolis.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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