The father of a 5-year-old boy detained by ICE for two weeks has spoken about their ordeal after a federal judge ordered the pair’s release.
Liam Conejo Ramos became the face of Donald Trump’s brutal mass deportation drive after a photo of him standing forlornly in the snow in a bunny-ears hat as ICE seized his asylum-seeker father in Minnesota went viral.
Liam was visited last week by Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who said the child had gotten sick and was being mistreated, triggering further public outrage.
But, after U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered the release of Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, from the family detention center in Dilley, South Texas, the pair were allowed to fly back home to their family on Sunday, just as the center was hit by a measles outbreak and movement in and out was locked down.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News during the flight from San Antonio, which saw Liam invited into the cockpit by the pilot, Conejo Arias shared heartbreaking details about their ordeal.
He said agents detained them on Jan. 20 as they arrived home from preschool in Columbia Heights. “That’s when several agents emerged [from their vehicles] and detained us,” he told ABC.
His mother, local officials, and Crockett said Liam became feverish, vomited, and grew lethargic inside the detention facility, with Crockett, 44, saying Liam was “so lethargic” during a visit and “never alert” the entire time. The Department of Homeland Security at the time denied he was sick.
But Conejo Arias echoed those health concerns in the ABC interview, describing conditions as “not great” and alleging staff had no medicine for his son. “We asked for medication, but we were told they didn’t have any,” he said.
Biery, a Bill Clinton appointee in the Western District of Texas, used unusually sharp language in the order, calling the case “ill-conceived and incompetently implemented” and criticizing “daily deportation quotas.”
DHS disputed the family’s account. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to ABC after the ruling: “ICE did NOT target or arrest a child.” DHS also claimed Conejo Arias “fled on foot—abandoning his child,” and said officers tried to place Liam with his “alleged mother,” who DHS claimed refused to take custody.
Conejo Arias denied that characterization. “I love my son too much. I would never abandon him,” he told ABC. Neighbors have said Liam’s mother, who is pregnant, was too scared to leave the house for fear of also being detained.
Biery noted Liam and Conejo Arias could still end up back in Ecuador—“involuntarily or by self-deportation”—but said any outcome should come via “a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place,” according to ABC News.
Conejo Arias told ABC on Sunday that he wants to stay in the United States with his family, saying they fled Ecuador because they were scared to return. “I asked for asylum to be here for my family, for my children,” he said. “I’m here because I’m scared of returning to my country.”
He said the family’s asylum case is still working its way through the system and that they “came in with all the requirements,” with his first court hearing scheduled for later in February.
Conejo Arias added that his message to the federal government was “not to be so unfair with the Latino population,” arguing it is “unjust” when people who come to work and support their families are detained.
“In my case, we were also arrested unjustly,” he said.
The Daily Beast has contacted DHS for comment.
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