What happened to Liam Conejo Ramos from start to finish?
Executive summary
A five‑year‑old Minneapolis preschooler, Liam Conejo Ramos, was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Jan. 20, 2026 alongside his father after agents approached the family’s car in Columbia Heights; the pair were later transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, prompting national outrage and differing official accounts of what occurred [1] [2] [3]. Officials say the arrest targeted the father and that he “abandoned” the child while witnesses, school officials and the family’s attorney say the child was effectively used during the arrest and that the family has an active asylum case [4] [5] [6].
1. How it began: the driveway pickup after preschool
School and local officials describe a routine afternoon in Columbia Heights when federal agents approached a running car in the family driveway as Liam returned home from preschool with his father; photos released by the school district showing the boy in a large blue bunny hat and a Spider‑Man backpack circulated widely after agents detained the pair on Jan. 20 [1] [7] [8].
2. The split narratives: ICE’s abandonment claim vs. school witnesses
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security framed the operation as a targeted arrest of Liam’s father, saying the father fled on foot and abandoned the child, while school leaders, neighbors and the superintendent said other adults at the scene offered to care for Liam and that agents led the boy to the door and asked him to knock, an account critics say amounts to using a child as “bait” — the two competing narratives are central to the controversy and are reported by multiple outlets [4] [5] [9].
3. What happened next: custody, transfer and legal status
Both Liam and his father were taken into ICE custody and subsequently transferred to a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas; the family’s attorney, Marc Prokosch, has said there is no timeline for release and that their asylum case remains pending, while school officials and the family maintain the father had not been ordered deported at the time of the arrest [2] [10] [8].
4. Public and institutional reaction: outrage, protests and political attention
The arrest ignited protests and political outcry: images and statements from school officials, elected officials and commentators amplified criticism of ICE’s tactics, and detainees at Dilley reportedly staged protests over Liam’s treatment — attorneys and advocates connecting the Dilley unrest to concern about the boy’s detention — even as DHS officials defended their account and emphasized the focus on the father [7] [3] [11].
5. Evidence and gaps: what reporting shows and what remains unclear
News reports document the chronology — approach at the driveway, detainment, transfer to Dilley, pending asylum case — and they reliably record the clash between DHS’s “abandonment” claim and school witnesses who say agents refused other adults’ offers to care for Liam [1] [4] [12]. What reporting so far does not provide in publicly available detail are forensic timelines, body‑cam or unedited video evidence made public by ICE, or a conclusive record resolving which version of events is accurate; outlets note DHS has not produced documentary evidence to substantiate the abandonment claim in the reporting summarized here [9] [8].
6. Where things stand: custody, legal proceedings and the human fallout
As of the latest reports, Liam and his father remain in ICE custody at the Dilley facility while the family’s asylum claim is pending and lawyers say there is no set release timeline; the case has become a focal point for debates about immigration enforcement tactics and the treatment of children in custody, with advocates, school officials and local witnesses disputing the government’s version and pressing for transparency and reunification [2] [6] [11].