{"id":667524,"date":"2026-03-19T20:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T20:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/667524\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T20:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T20:10:19","slug":"asylum-claim-denied-for-family-of-liam-conejo-ramos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/667524\/","title":{"rendered":"Asylum claim denied for family of Liam Conejo Ramos"},"content":{"rendered":"

An immigration judge has denied the asylum claim of the family of Liam Conejo Ramos<\/a>, the 5-year-old boy photographed in a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack as he was detained with his father during the immigration crackdown that shook Minneapolis earlier this year, a family lawyer said.<\/p>\n

They were ordered deported to Ecuador, the lawyer said.<\/p>\n

The boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who is from Ecuador, were taken into custody in a Minneapolis suburb on Jan. 20 and held for 10 days in a Texas detention center before a judge ordered them released<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s lawyers are appealing the ruling by Judge John Burns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just gravely disappointed in the judge\u2019s misguided decision,\u201d said Danielle Molliver. \u201cWe\u2019re committed to the family and we\u2019ll fight the appeal, obviously, the best that we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

An appeal could take years to move through the courts, though Molliver said she expected the government to push for a speedier process.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt minimum, I would hope we have a couple months,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Molliver said Liam is back in his suburban Minneapolis school, but that he and his father were badly shaken by their time in detention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re scared\u201d now about what could happen, she said.<\/p>\n

The arrests and national coverage unfolded during a surge of thousands of immigration officers across the Minneapolis area, leading to daily protests and the shooting deaths of two American citizens by federal officers.<\/p>\n

Neighbors and school officials have accused federal immigration officers of using Liam as \u201cbait\u201d<\/a> by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would come outside. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an \u201cabject lie.\u201d Officials have said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a vehicle in their driveway. He has denied that.<\/p>\n

The government said the boy\u2019s father entered the U.S. illegally in December 2024. The family\u2019s lawyer, however, says he entered legally, requesting asylum, and that his asylum claim allows him to stay in the U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, who has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, said in a post on X that the family \u201cnever even got the chance to make their case before a judge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is wrong, cruel and cannot stand. My office and I are in touch with the family and their representatives who will appeal this decision. We will keep fighting,\u201d said Castro.<\/p>\n

\n

Liam Ramos and his father have been denied asylum. They never even got the chance to make their case before a judge. It is wrong, cruel and cannot stand. My office and I are in touch with the family and their representatives who will appeal this decision. We will keep fighting. https:\/\/t.co\/Rj3AsC2DV6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) March 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n