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A five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, was detained by immigration agents in the United States, and his image, standing in front of his home after leaving school, has sparked a wave of outrage and questions. As the case goes viral, conflicting accounts have emerged regarding what really happened during the arrest of the child's father.
The operation took place on January 20 in a suburb of Minneapolis and aimed to arrest the child's father, Adrián Alexander Conejo Arias, an Ecuadorian citizen. According to the Department of Homeland Security, as reported by Univisión, the man got out of his vehicle and fled on foot upon noticing the presence of federal agents, leaving his child alone in the car. According to this account, an ICE agent stayed with the minor solely to protect him, while others continued the arrest of the adult.
Authorities also state that, in these cases, parents can decide whether their children accompany them in the migration process or remain under the care of a trusted person, and they even mention the option for voluntary return through the CBP Home application.
However, this explanation directly contrasts with the account from school authorities and the family's attorney. Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights school district, stated that the minor was taken along with his father and that the agents forced him to knock on the door of his home to check if there were other people inside, an act she described as using a child “as bait.” According to the district, Liam is one of at least four students recently detained by ICE in that area.
Attorney Marc Prokosch stated that the family legally entered the United States in 2024 and has a pending asylum case, with no criminal records or active deportation orders. Both he and school officials confirmed that father and son were transferred to a family detention center in Texas, where they remain incarcerated. Prokosch described the process as "simply cruel."
Amid the controversy, Vice President JD Vance defended ICE during a visit to Minneapolis, downplaying the criticism and justifying the agents' actions. “Are we supposed to let a five-year-old freeze to death?” he said, according to a report from .
For Vance, stopping the father was part of a legitimate operation, and allowing exceptions due to the presence of children would, he said, open the door to a "softening" of the law.
However, the government's version clashes with the testimony of the family's lawyer. The attorney stated that the father has no criminal record.
Other students in the area, including teenagers and a 10-year-old girl, have been arrested in similar operations, some while on their way to school.
Teachers reported that federal agents are patrolling educational centers, following school buses, and appearing in parking lots, creating fear among families who just want their children to be able to study in peace.
Meanwhile, Minneapolis is experiencing daily protests, marked by tension between local authorities and the federal government. Vance visited the city to support ICE and blamed state and municipal officials for the current "chaos," dismissing the application of the Insurrection Act for now, although Trump himself has hinted at that possibility.
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