Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Minnesota boy, father return home from Texas ICE detention facility
Scripps News ^ | 1:03 PM, Feb 01, 2026 | Scripps News Group

Posted on 02/01/2026 4:54:14 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

Their case has become a flashpoint in the debate over the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, have returned home to Minnesota after being detained by federal immigration enforcement officials last month.

RELATED STORY | Federal officers detain a 5-year-old boy who school official says was used as 'bait'

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said in a statement on social media that he escorted Liam and his father back home from an immigration detention facility in Texas — where they had been held for nearly two weeks. Their release comes after a judge ordered them freed.

"Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center," Castro said. "I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning. Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack. Thank you to everyone who demanded freedom for Liam. We won’t stop until all children and families are home."

Liam’s arrest drew national attention after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took the child from a running car in his driveway on Jan. 20 as he returned home from preschool. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said his father — originally from Ecuador and the target of the operation — had abandoned the boy.

(Excerpt) Read more at scrippsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: minnesota

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.


1 posted on 02/01/2026 4:54:14 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

The media sure played its audience. DHS brought the boy home to the mother...but she wouldn’t open the door. What were they supposed to do....leave him on the front stoop. The kid was screaming for her to open the door.


2 posted on 02/01/2026 4:58:06 PM PST by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Castro is a mangy lyin’ chihuahua. Liam is not “home”. His “home” is on the other side of the Rio Grande.


3 posted on 02/01/2026 5:00:55 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Cheech Frey and his sidekick, Timmy Chong have turned Minniesomalia into a Cheech & Chong movie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Mexican Minnesota boy and his Mexican father returned to Minnestota.”


4 posted on 02/01/2026 5:03:47 PM PST by A strike (F AirstripOne. & No more dots.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

5 posted on 02/01/2026 5:05:23 PM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: A strike

They are from Ecuador.


6 posted on 02/01/2026 5:07:09 PM PST by crusty old prospector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: A strike

Again, how is a federal magistrate with no authority over immigration issues making an order? Trump should go back to the immigration judge and ask him to overrule the order and demand he is deported.


7 posted on 02/01/2026 5:10:06 PM PST by Yogafist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Equador is their home, not Minnesota. The media does everything they can to try and make us believe all these illegals are now home in America. Total BS.


8 posted on 02/01/2026 5:36:48 PM PST by Midwesterner53
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau

Thanks for the real story. I’ve been doing other things all day, just saw tear-jerking report on TV...PBS “News”. Trump is a VERY bad man, they almost say in so many words.


9 posted on 02/01/2026 5:45:14 PM PST by Veto! ((Trump is Superman})
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

‘k
Good on you


10 posted on 02/01/2026 5:49:00 PM PST by A strike (F AirstripOne. & No more dots.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: A strike

Mexican Minnesota boy and his Mexican father returned to Minnestota.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Should read: “Illegal law breaking immigrant from Ecuador who had abandoned his 5 year old anchor baby son……..”


11 posted on 02/01/2026 5:49:04 PM PST by thinden (Buckle Up!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Returned to Columbia or some other 3rd world s***hole?


12 posted on 02/01/2026 5:59:26 PM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy - EVs a solution for which there is no problemq)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
President Trump better tighten up, and put down the insurrection. It started with "Maryland Man". Should have made a deal with El Salvador not to release "Maryland Man" under any circumstances.

13 posted on 02/01/2026 6:04:45 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

The optics on this whole clownshow are terrible for Trump.

He needs to be listening to Erik Prince on deportations and not Kristi Noem. Do everything administratively. Shut off access to banking, welfare, remittances, employment, and anything else that makes life in America comfortable and many will leave quietly on their own.

And punish those who enable them to stay here. Hire an illegal, go to prison. Open up a bank account for an illegal, go to prison. Rent an apartment to an illegal, go to prison.

We can debate it all we want. Americans overwhelmingly support deportations but the left is winning on the war of optics. And we’re not talking about Trump’s base here. We’re talking about the vast squishy middle.

Personally, I’d be happy with video footage boxcars loaded with crying illegals getting deported south! I love videos of leftist insurgents getting smoked by ICE! But I’m also not blind to how this stuff plays out to the vast number of Americans who might be appalled by this, even if they support deportations.


14 posted on 02/01/2026 6:09:04 PM PST by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Sounds right to me. I have said all along just turn off the transfer payments and freebies and they will self-deport.


15 posted on 02/01/2026 6:10:31 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum ( Klaatu barada nikto.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Allowing illegal aliens to get on the raceway to free stuff by allowing them to join the military will go down in history as the Great American Jerkoff. These cowards wouldn’t fight for their own countries what the hell makes anyone think they’ll fight for ours. They are runners not fighters.


16 posted on 02/01/2026 6:44:24 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Cheech Frey and his sidekick, Timmy Chong have turned Minniesomalia into a Cheech & Chong movie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

So a judge has ruled that he’s no longer an illegal? Did he wiggle his nose like Samantha & then documents magically appeared?


17 posted on 02/01/2026 8:48:50 PM PST by Prince of Space (I cannot hate the media enough!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68
I’m sure it’s much harder to implement than it appears. I guarantee if this plan was carried out, the Democrats, ACLU & assorted NGOs would be on every channel lamenting about how cruel the Trump administration is, “taking food from children’s mouths with the possibility of being homeless looming over them.” No matter what we do, the media will paint us as the bad guys & we’ll be no better off in the midterms.

A far more effective strategy would be to find whoever is funding this insurrection & destroy them financially & legally. ICE was fine when Biden & Obama were in the White House so this is purely political. Most ppl are in favor of this operation other than the radical leftists who are protesting & rioting in large Democrat-run cities, especially ones that have been labeled as “sanctuary cities.”

18 posted on 02/01/2026 9:01:42 PM PST by Prince of Space (I cannot hate the media enough!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

“...Trump administration’s immigration policies...”

These policies were established long before Trump was president. Here’s how they were accomplished:

Early Restrictions (1875–1917): Following early open policies, the federal government began regulation, including the 1875 Page Law (targeting Asian women) and the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

National Origins Quota System (1921–1924): The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act) established strict, racially biased, and national-origin quotas, creating a system that favored Northern and Western Europeans.

The Modern Foundation (1952): The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Act) codified existing laws, maintained the quota system, but began allowing for limited immigration from the Asia-Pacific region.The 1965 Immigration Act (Hart-Celler Act): Abolished the national origins quota system, establishing a new, family-reunification, and skilled-based preference system. This act is considered the foundation for current immigration demographics, significantly increasing immigration from non-European countries.

Subsequent Reforms: Significant updates occurred in 1986 (Immigration Reform and Control Act), 1990 (overall caps), and 1996 (enforcement-focused), shaping the current landscape.

And every president since the late 1990’s has used the same system.

Here is a study by PEW that may help to expose the lie on this:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/09/30/how-u-s-immigration-laws-and-rules-have-changed-through-history/

wy69


19 posted on 02/01/2026 9:54:06 PM PST by whitney69 (uin.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson