Bundled up in his tiny plaid coat and blue knit bunny hat, 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos stared ahead with a blank look as agents huddled around him before bringing him into federal custody with his father.
In the driveway of their home in suburban Minneapolis, a masked federal agent held the handle of the boy’s Spiderman backpack as he got into a snow-streaked black SUV – and later, on a plane with his father to a family detention facility in Texas.
What exactly led Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take Liam and his dad more than 1,300 miles from home remains in dispute.
But the boy’s plight – and his now uncertain future – sparked renewed outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown, which has also ensnared children.
Liam is now the fourth child from his school district to be taken away by ICE in just the past two weeks, Columbia Heights Public Schools said.
Here’s what we know about Liam’s story:
His family entered the US legally, attorney says, but DHS calls the father an ‘illegal alien’
Liam and his family are originally from Ecuador and presented themselves to border officers in Texas in December 2024 to apply for asylum, said the family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch.
“These are not illegal aliens,” Prokosch said. “They were following all the established protocols, pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings, and posed no safety, no flight risk and never should have been detained.”
While Liam and his father were pursuing a legal process to obtain status in the United States, their claims remained pending.
The Department of Homeland Security described Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, as an “illegal alien” who was the target of the operation that ultimately landed him and his son in federal custody, and disputed that the father legally entered the US.
The economic situation, insecurity, and unstable employment conditions in Ecuador led Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias and his wife to leave their country “for a good life,” his brother Luis Conejo told CNN.
Liam’s parents had frequently sent messages in the family’s WhatsApp group chat saying they feared being detained, said Liam’s uncle, adding his sister-in-law called him “in shock, in total nervousness, unable to speak” when she told him about the detention of Liam and his father.
What we know about the father’s background
Liam’s father does not appear to have a criminal record in Minnesota, according to Prokosch.
Three days after the arrest of Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, Homeland Security officials haven’t shared any potential criminal history associated with him, and according to a source familiar with the matter, Homeland Security records don’t suggest he has a criminal history. CNN’s search of public records also didn’t reveal any criminal record. Arias did not have a criminal record in Ecuador, his origin country, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.
When asked about any potential criminal history, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said: “The law requires those in the country illegally claiming fearing to be detained pending removal. You can look it up in the statute.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly said it is targeting “violent criminals” and the “worst of the worst” in its immigration sweeps, though Homeland Security officials have also acknowledged that over the course of operations other immigrants may be picked up too.
Luis Conejo held back tears as he talked about his outrage at seeing the images showing how immigration agents took his brother and his nephew Liam.
He described his brother as “very hardworking” and said he works in masonry, painting jobs and repairs of various kinds.
Why Liam is in a detention facility instead of at home with his mother
Liam was just steps away from his home, where his mother was inside. Why he was separated from his mom is a point of debate.
Liam is among several students from Columbia Heights Public Schools who was taken away by agents in recent weeks, the school district said. – Columbia Heights Public Schools
DHS said Liam’s “alleged mother REFUSED to take custody of her own child” despite “multiple attempts to get the mother inside the house to take custody of her child.”
But Liam’s mother, who is pregnant and also has a teenage son, was “terrified” of the agents outside her door, said Pastor Sergio Amezcua, who has been helping the mother since her husband and son were detained.
“ICE agents were trying to use the baby to get her to come out of her house, but the neighbors … advised her not to do it,” fearing she would be detained, Amezcua said.
ICE disputed that claim, saying the agency has never “used a child as bait.”
“My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family,” said Marcos Charles, the acting executive associate director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.
DHS said the father “abandoned” his child when agents tried to apprehend him. The agency also said officers “took care of the child, got him McDonald’s and played him his favorite music to comfort him.”
Agents took the boy with them after his father told officers he wanted Liam to stay with him, according to DHS.
“Liam is a very, very cheerful child. He is the most playful in the family,” his uncle Luis Conejo said. “He’s here all the time, he’s here all the time,” he added, as he pointed with his left hand first to his head, then to his heart.
‘Please do not open the door!’
One of the witnesses who was driving by and saw agents take Liam away was Mary Granlund – the school board chair at Columbia Heights Public Schools.
Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik, superintendent of (left) and School Board Chair Mary Granlund (center) speak during a news conference Thursday. – Seth Herald/Reuters
She described a commotion at the scene, with onlookers telling agents: “What are you doing? Don’t take the child!”
One person pleaded: “There are people here that can take him,” Granlund said. “There was another adult who lived in the home that was there saying, ‘I will take the child. I will take the child.’”
When someone recognized the school board chair, Granlund said, they yelled: “The school is here! They can take the child. You don’t have to take them.”
Liam’s mother looked out the window, Granlund said, but Liam’s father was yelling, “Please do not open the door! Don’t open the door!”
Parents can ask ICE to place a child with a designated guardian. Generally, ICE would run a check on that person to ensure the child’s safety, though it’s unclear whether specific paperwork would be needed to make that transfer.
The statement from DHS about agents making attempts not to separate the family “doesn’t make sense to me,” said Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, who arrived at the house to what she described as a frantic scene.
When community members and other school officials at the scene said federal agents took Liam, Stenvik said, “Everyone was in disbelief.” Stenvik then went to the family’s neighbor, who told her, “They talked to the agents and begged, begged them not to let them take Liam.”
Other children have been taken away by ICE agents
Liam, a student in the “PreK 4” program at Valley View Elementary, isn’t the only child from his school district who has been taken away by federal agents. Three other students have also been taken by ICE, school officials said.
Also on Tuesday, a 17-year-old Columbia Heights High School student on the way to school was taken by armed, masked agents, Columbia Heights Public Schools said.
“No parents were present,” the school district said. “The student was removed from their car and taken away.”
Last week, ICE agents entered the apartment of another 17-year-old high school student and her mother. Both were detained, the district said.
And a fourth grader was taken by ICE agents on her way to school with her mother two weeks ago. The 10-year-old is still in a Texas detention center, the school district said on Wednesday.
CNN has asked DHS for details on these cases.
Stenvik, the superintendent of the school district, said ICE agents have been seen driving around the schools and even following buses, adding there’s “no semblance of normalcy anymore” and “every week just keeps getting worse.”
Vance defends agents’ actions
During a visit to Minneapolis on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said he understood the initial concern over Liam’s story and maintained that the father fled when agents moved to arrest him.
“I’m a father of a 5-year-old – actually a 5-year-old little boy – and I think to myself, ‘Oh my God, this is terrible. How did we arrest a five-year-old?’” Vance said at a news conference.
“So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?” he added.
Where Liam and his dad are being held now
Liam and his dad were taken across the country to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas – an ICE facility for families, Prokosch said.
Hundreds of families have been held at Dilley, including children ranging from infants to teenagers. While the facility includes features for children – such as a gym, a library, and classrooms – attorneys and advocates have reported poor conditions and concerns over children getting uprooted from their daily routines and held in a detention center to no fault of their own.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Sara Sidner, Meridith Edwards, Marlon Sorto, Ana María Cañizares, Anabella González, Chris Boyette, Carma Hassan, Laura Coates, Elise Hammond and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.
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