Child Welfare and Federal Detention

A U.S. District Court judge, Fred Biery, has temporarily barred ICE from deporting or transferring 5‑year‑old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who were arrested in Minnesota and are being held together at the Dilley family detention center in Texas while litigation and their pending immigration cases proceed. The case has drawn national scrutiny amid dueling accounts—DHS says the father fled and “abandoned” the child and the mother refused custody, while school officials, the family’s attorney and neighbors allege agents used the boy as “bait”—and has prompted protests and calls for congressional action.