Federal authorities have denied efforts to expedite the end of asylum claims by the family of a 5-year-old boy detained with his father during an immigration crackdown that has shaken the Minneapolis area.
A judge ordered Liam Ramos and his father released from a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, and they returned to Minnesota on February 1. (File Photo/AP)Photos of Liam Conejo Ramos wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack surrounded by immigration officials have sparked outrage against the crackdown.
Daniel Molliver, a lawyer for the son and his father, told The New York Times that the government was trying to speed up the deportation process, calling the move “extraordinary” and possibly “retaliatory.”
The government denied it.
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“These are routine removals. They are not expedited removals,” Department of Homeland Security official Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, adding “there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.”
Molliver told The Times that an immigration judge, during a closed hearing Friday, gave him extra time to argue the family’s case.
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The family has been set aside for their next hearing this Friday, according to Columbia Heights Public Schools Liam District spokeswoman Kristen Stuenkel.
The boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who is originally from Ecuador, were arrested Jan. 20 in suburban Minneapolis. A judge ordered their release from a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, and they returned to Minnesota on February 1.
Neighbors and school officials accused federal immigration officials of using the preschooler as “bait” by asking her to knock on her door to get her mother to come out. DHS called that description of events a “disgusting lie.” It said the father fled on foot and left the son in a moving car in their driveway.
The government said the boy’s father entered the United States illegally in December 2024. The family’s lawyer, however, said the father entered legally using the CBP One app and that his pending asylum claim allows him to remain in the United States.
