Minneapolis — The detention of a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father outside their home in Minnesota has become the latest cause of American divisions over immigration under the Trump administration. Versions provided by government officials, family lawyers, and neighbors offer conflicting accounts of whether the parents were given sufficient opportunity to leave the child with someone else.
Neighbors and school officials say federal immigration officers Use a preschooler as “bait” By asking him to knock on his door until his mother answers.
The Department of Homeland Security calls this description of events a “blatant lie.” The letter says the father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot and left the boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, in a running car in their driveway.
Duel novels come just two weeks after The fatal shooting of Renee Goode in Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, which witnesses also viewed as a blatant abuse of power — and which the government defended as a legitimate act of self-defense.
Father and son are now in a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, near San Antonio.
Federal officials say the father was in the United States illegally, without providing details. He came illegally in December 2024, said Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff.
The family’s lawyer said he had a pending asylum application that would allow him to remain in the country.
Both could be true. The government may have tried to deport him after it was found he had entered illegally, but he may have exercised his legal right to seek asylum, putting his deportation on hold until a judge rules on his claim.
The online court summary shows the case was filed on December 17, 2024, and was assigned to immigration court within the Dilley Detention Center.
Here’s a look at what various officials, lawyers and others are saying about the issue:
Officers ordered the boy to knock on his door to see if there were other people inside, “using a 5-year-old as bait,” Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zina Stenvik told reporters.
The father asked the child’s mother, who was inside, not to open the door, Steinvik said.
School officials said agents would not leave Liam with other adults.
A photo of the boy wearing a Spider-Man beanie and backpack went viral on social media, sparking strong reactions.
“Why is a 5-year-old being detained?” The supervisor asked. “You can’t tell me this kid is going to be labeled a violent criminal.”
Other adults at the scene offered to care for the boy, but were ignored by agents, including a neighbor who said they had paperwork allowing her to care for Liam on behalf of the parents, school officials said.
Columbia Heights School Board President Mary Granlund said she told agents she could also take care of him.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not targeted, detained, or used any child as bait,” said Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were the only people primarily concerned with the well-being of this child.”
The child was abandoned and officers extensively tried to convince the mother to take custody of the child, McLaughlin said. “The officers even assured her that she would not be detained.”
She said the officers “adhered to the father’s wish to keep the child with him.”
In a press conference on Friday, Border Patrol Cmdr Greg Bovino He criticized what he called the “false media narrative” about the case.
Marcus Charles, acting executive assistant director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, criticized the father for “abandoning his child in the middle of winter in the car.” He told reporters that one officer stayed with the child while others arrested the father. He added that his officers then obtained food for the boy, and “did everything in their power to reunite him with his family.”
“It is unfortunate that when we approached his door, the people inside refused to greet him and open the door. Fortunately, Conejo Arias eventually asked for his child to stay with him,” Charles said.
Charles said he did not know what happened to the child’s mother.
They are in a Family Detention Center in Dilley, Texas, Families reported that children suffer from malnutrition, illness, and suffer from detention for long periods. Conditions there are worse than ever, said Lecia Welch, senior legal adviser at Children’s Rights, who visited the facility last week.
“The number of children has risen dramatically and large numbers of children have been detained for more than 100 days,” Welch said. The administration admitted this in December About 400 children He faced extended detention.
“Almost every child we talked to was sick,” Welch said.
Bovino noted that when American citizens anywhere in the country are arrested and imprisoned by local police, they are separated from their children.
“I challenge any other law enforcement agency anywhere nationwide to show me the incredible care that ICE and Border Patrol provide to children,” Bovino said.
Bovino said if Liam had not been with his father, he could have ended up in the care of social services without a parent instead.
People in family centers “get first-class care. They have medical care. The food is good. They have educational services. They have church services available. They have entertainment,” Charles said.
The family’s attorney, Mark Prokosch, said Thursday that he assumed Liam and his father were as well In a family cell But he was not in direct contact with them.
“We are looking at our legal options to see if we can release them either through some legal mechanisms or through moral pressure,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
Prokosch’s office said Friday he was unavailable for comment.
The child’s immigration status may be a deciding factor, and it is not clear whether the 5-year-old is legally present in the United States. If not, he or she may be deported along with one or both parents. Charles, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, said Friday that the family entered the United States together, indicating that he is not a born U.S. citizen.
Trump’s border official, Tom Homan, has repeatedly said that parents of US-born children have the option of taking their children with them when they are deported or leaving them with someone else.
“This is parenting 101. You can decide to take that child with you or you can decide to leave the child with another relative or spouse,” Homan said last year on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Last July, the Trump administration issued a “detained parent guidance” stating that if minor children are encountered during ICE proceedings, it may under no circumstances take custody of or transport the children. The directive includes exceptions for when people lose their immigration status.
The guidance states that ICE must allow parents and guardians to make alternative care arrangements for children before taking them into custody.
It does not specify what happens when parents say they want their child to stay with them.
“If a parent is arrested while with their child, the government is not required to arrest the child, regardless of the child’s immigration status,” said Neha Desai, executive director of Human Rights and Dignity for Children at the National Youth Law Center. “When ICE detains a parent, its own policy requires them to allow time to make arrangements for the child’s care.”
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AP reporters Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this story.