U.S. Democratic Representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett paid a visit to a five-year-old boy and his father from Ecuador at a federal detention center in Texas on Wednesday. This visit came shortly after the boy was detained by federal agents in Minneapolis, sparking outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The lawmakers, including Castro, met with Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, for about half an hour at the South Texas Family Residential Center near San Antonio. Demonstrators supporting the detainees faced off with Texas state police officers outside the facility.
A widely circulated photo shows Liam in a blue winter hat and Spider-Man backpack while being detained, prompting strong reactions. Castro described the child as a symbol of the harsh realities of the ICE and detention systems. Liam’s father shared that the boy has been sleeping a lot, missing his mother and classmates, and expressing his desire to return to school. Castro urged President Trump to empathize with the situation by considering how he would feel if it were his own grandchildren behind bars.
The meeting was part of Democrats’ efforts to oversee immigration policies and shed light on the impact of Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota and beyond. Liam and his father were taken into custody on Jan. 20 in Minneapolis as part of a broader operation that has stirred controversies and led to fatal encounters with federal officers. Neighbors and school officials claimed that immigration officers used Liam as a lure by instructing him to knock on his home’s door to prompt his mother to answer. The Department of Homeland Security refuted this account, stating that the father fled on foot, leaving Liam in a running vehicle.
A federal judge issued a temporary order to prevent the Trump administration from deporting Ramos and Arias while their detention is under legal scrutiny. The family’s attorney disclosed that Arias had a pending asylum claim, allowing him to stay in the U.S. The case is being handled at the Dilley detention center’s immigration court.
Following the visit, Castro shared a photo on social media showing Liam in his father’s arms. Crockett, a Texas Democrat running for Senate, emphasized that Liam is just one of many children at the facility who are deprived of education. Outside the detention center, protesters clashed with Texas state police, leading to arrests and the deployment of pepper balls.
Castro criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, accusing the department of running a lawless immigration enforcement operation resembling a bounty hunter organization. Crockett and fellow Democrats are advocating for Noem’s impeachment and opposing funding bills supporting her department and associated immigration agencies. The House passed the DHS funding bill with some Democratic support, but Senate Democrats are hesitant following recent fatal incidents involving ICE agents in Minneapolis.
This ongoing saga underscores the contentious debate surrounding immigration policies and enforcement actions in the U.S.