Immigration Judge Denies Asylum for 5‑Year‑Old Liam Conejo Ramos’ Family
An immigration judge has denied the asylum claims of the family of 5‑year‑old Liam Conejo Ramos, the Minnesota preschooler whose January arrest with his father during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge drew national outrage over ICE’s treatment of children. Columbia Heights Public School District, where Liam is a student, disclosed the ruling in a statement calling it 'heartbreaking' and said the family’s attorney plans to appeal. Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, were seized in their driveway on Jan. 20 and sent to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas until U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered their release in February, blasting the administration’s pursuit of daily deportation quotas that 'traumatize children.' The family says they are from Ecuador and entered in 2024 through a now‑defunct CBP One asylum‑appointment system, a claim DHS disputes, underscoring ongoing factual and legal fights over how prior Biden‑era entries are being handled under current enforcement priorities. The new denial turns a high‑profile symbol of child impacts from deportation tactics into an active test of how far immigration courts will go in backing those tactics despite federal judges’ criticism.
📌 Key Facts
- An immigration judge has 'ended the asylum claims' of the family of 5‑year‑old Liam Conejo Ramos, according to Columbia Heights Public School District.
- Liam and his father were arrested Jan. 20 in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, during Operation Metro Surge and later sent to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.
- U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered their release in February, criticizing the administration’s deportation quotas as 'ill‑conceived' and 'traumatizing children,' but the underlying asylum case has now been denied and will be appealed.
📊 Relevant Data
In FY2024, the asylum grant rate for Ecuadorian nationals in US immigration courts was approximately 40.3%, with 203 grants out of 504 decisions.
Asylum Decisions by Nationality — U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
The primary reasons for the surge in migration from Ecuador to the US since 2020 include escalating violence, organized crime, economic hardship, and inflation, leading to over 244,000 Ecuadorians requesting asylum in the US since 2021.
Why Have Hundreds of Thousands Fled Ecuador Since 2020? — AULA Blog
Columbia Heights, Minnesota, has a population of 22,358 as of 2024, with a racial/ethnic breakdown of White alone 49.6%, Black alone 26.8%, Hispanic or Latino 15.3%, Asian alone 4.3%, and foreign-born persons comprising 22.2% of the population (2020-2024 estimates).
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Columbia Heights city, Minnesota — U.S. Census Bureau
Operation Metro Surge was a 2026 ICE enforcement operation in Minnesota involving up to 3,000 federal agents, aimed at removing criminal noncitizens, resulting in over 4,000 removals, but it heavily targeted Somali and Southeast Asian communities amid allegations of linking them to fraud.
Minneapolis, MN: Operation Metro Surge — Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Asylum grant rates in US immigration courts declined to 19.2% in August 2025, down from 38.2% in August 2024, indicating a sharp drop in approvals overall.
Immigration Court Asylum Grant Rates Cut in Half — TRAC Reports
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