Protesters clashed with state troopers on Wednesday outside a Texas detention centre where a pre-schooler and his father are being held after immigration officers took them into custody in Minnesota last week.
ICE officers first detained 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, in Minneapolis on 20 January before the two were relocated to the Dilley, Texas, facility.
Several lawmakers also visited the facility on Wednesday, speaking out against the father and son’s detention, and urging the Trump administration to release them.
The Department of Homeland Security has said the pair entered the US illegally, while a lawyer for the family said they followed proper protocols to seek asylum.
Community organisers, unions and faith leaders from across Texas marched to the facility after holding a vigil nearby “to amplify the voices and protests of children and families held in detention against their will,” the organisers said in a press release.
Outside the Texas facility, a clip from CNN shows officers holding a line against protesters, and one officer can be seen throwing something into the crowd, after which a thump is heard. Protesters are seen yelling, blowing whistles, and honking.
Meanwhile, Representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, both Texas Democrats, visited the father and son inside the facility.
“I demanded his release and told him how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him,” Castro posted on social media alongside a photo of the pre-schooler asleep in his father’s arms.
Crockett also posted about the visit on social media: “My heart absolutely breaks for Liam, his family, and every person being wrongfully detained.”
“We assured them that we are doing everything in our power to reunite them with their families and that those responsible for this cruelty will be held accountable,” Crockett continued.
Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, joined Crockett and Castro to speak outside the facility.
“Today, we say with one voice, free Liam Ramos,” Casar told the crowd. “Donald Trump ran for the presidency saying he was going to go after ‘the worst of the worst.’ Today he is holding a five-year-old in a prison.”
There have been conflicting reports about what happened during the ICE operation where 5-year-old Ramos was first approached by ICE agents.
Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools where Ramos went to school, said at a press conference that the boy had just arrived home from pre-school.
An agent asked the child to knock on the door of the home to see if anyone else was there, school officials said.
Stenvik said another adult living in the home asked to take the young boy inside, but was refused.
School board member Mary Granlund said she was on the scene and told immigration officials she could take Liam Ramos, but they still detained him.
In a post on X, ICE denied the child had been detained.
“A criminal illegal alien ABANDONED his child as he fled from ICE officers, and our officers ensured the child was kept SAFE in the bitter cold,” the agency said.
“ICE made multiple attempts to get the family inside the house to take custody of the child. They refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him,” the agency said.
Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the family, said the father and son “did everything right” when they came into the country from Ecuador in 2024.
They entered the US at a port of entry to seek asylum, they used the CBP One app, they made an appointment, they presented themselves to Customs and Border Patrol, and they have shared all their information with the government, Prokosch said.
“This family was not eluding ICE in any way. They were following all the established protocols pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings and pose no safety, no flight risk, and never should have been detained,” Prokosch added.
Photos provided to the BBC by the school district at the time – now seen nationwide – show a boy, identified as Liam Ramos, outside bundled up, wearing a Spiderman backpack and a blue bunny-shaped beanie, as an ICE officer holds onto his backpack.
US Vice-President JD Vance told reporters ICE had no choice because “the father ran”.
DHS has said it is arresting the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in an effort to restore public safety in Minnesota.
Dubbed Operation Metro Surge, the immigration enforcement initiative there has sparked outcry from residents in Minneapolis, St Paul and other cities in the state.
Wednesday’s march in Texas comes as protests continue around the country after federal agents killed two US citizens in Minneapolis amid the operation there.
By BBC News
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