Federal immigration agents detain a man during an operation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026.
US Judge blocks deportation of 5-year-old after ICE arrest
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US Judge Temporarily Halts Deportation of 5-Year-Old After Minneapolis ICE Arrest Sparks Outrage
A US judge has ordered a temporary halt to the deportation of a five-year-old child after his arrest by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis last week sparked widespread public outrage.
Five-year-old Liam Conijo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conijo Arias, asylum seekers from Ecuador, were arrested on January 20.
Video footage showing the visibly distressed child during ICE agents’ attempt to arrest his father circulated widely and triggered anger across the state of Minnesota.
In a ruling issued on Monday in San Antonio, Texas, Judge Fred Biery said that “any potential or anticipated transfer or removal” of the child or his father is prohibited while they challenge their detention “until further order of this court.”
An official from Columbia Heights Public Schools, which Ramos attended, said the child had been used as “bait” by immigration agents to lure people inside the family’s home.
ICE Enforcement Director Marcus Charles said on Friday that “the officers under my command did everything possible to reunite him with his family,” adding that the family refused to open the door after the father fled, leaving the child behind.
In a separate incident, Ecuador on Tuesday condemned what it described as an attempted intrusion by US immigration agents into its consulate in Minneapolis.
Ecuador’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the government of President Daniel Noboa, one of Washington’s closest allies in Latin America, had sent a formal letter of protest to the US embassy in Quito over the incident.
According to the statement, an ICE agent attempted to enter the consulate, but staff blocked the move to protect Ecuadorian nationals inside.
US President Donald Trump on Monday dispatched the head of border enforcement to Minneapolis and struck a conciliatory tone in an effort to ease public anger following the killing of a second US citizen this month by federal agents in the city during protests against immigration enforcement operations.
