People hold a photo of Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, who was held by immigration officers, during an 'ICE Out' protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York on January 23, 2026. ANGELA WEISS / AFP
A US judge temporarily blocked the deportation of a 5-year-old boy, whose detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last week drew widespread public outrage amid immigration raids in Minneapolis.
Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who are asylum seekers from Ecuador, were arrested on January 20 by ICE agents. Photographs soon went viral of 5-year-old Liam, wearing a fluffy blue cap and a backpack, being held as he was detained by a federal agent dressed in black.
"Any possible or anticipated removal or transfer" of the child or his father was prohibited while they contest their detention "until further Order by this court," US District Judge Fred Biery said in a ruling issued Monday in San Antonio, Texas, where the pair are being held.
The superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, where Ramos was a preschool student, said the pair was taken from their driveway as they arrived home.
