DILLEY, TEXAS — In a stinging judicial rebuke that invoked the Declaration of Independence and the Bible to condemn the “traumatization of children,” a federal judge on Saturday ordered the immediate release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos from an immigration detention center.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery brings a temporary end to a two-week saga that has made the young boy the face of the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were swept up by federal agents in their Minneapolis driveway on January 20—an arrest that local school officials allege involved using the child as “bait” to lure his mother out of their home.
“The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children,” Judge Biery wrote in a scathing 12-page opinion. Under the signature of his order, the judge included a photo of Liam in his blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, alongside the two-word verse from the Gospel of John: “Jesus wept.”
The ‘Bait’ Allegations
The detention of Liam sparked a national outcry after Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights Public School District, went public with a harrowing account of the arrest. According to Stenvik and witnesses, ICE agents took Liam from a still-running vehicle after arresting his father, then led the crying preschooler to his front door.
Agents reportedly directed the 5-year-old to knock and ask to be let in—an attempt, critics say, to force his mother, Erika Ramos, to open the door so she could also be apprehended.
“They used a child as a human key to a private residence,” said Jennifer Scarborough, an attorney for the family. “It is a level of tactical cruelty that has no place in American law enforcement.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied these claims, asserting instead that the child was “abandoned” by his father during a foot chase—a narrative flatly rejected by the family and bystander video.
A Civics Lesson from the Bench
Judge Biery, a Clinton appointee, did not mince words in his assessment of the administration’s tactics. His ruling criticized the government’s “apparent ignorance” of the Declaration of Independence and the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable seizure.
Key Findings of the Ruling:
- Immediate Release: The government must release Liam and his father “as soon as practicable,” and no later than Tuesday, Feb. 3.
- Constitutional Violation: The judge found that the administrative warrants used by the executive branch to bypass judicial oversight “do not pass probable cause muster.”
- Humane Mandate: Biery cited the “perfidious lust for unbridled power” as a driving force behind the current crackdown, urging a return to “human decency.”
The Minneapolis Pressure Cooker
The order to release Liam comes at a moment of extreme tension in the Twin Cities. While Judge Biery was ruling in Texas, a separate federal judge in Minnesota, Katherine M. Menendez, denied a request from the state to halt the entire “Metro Surge” operation. However, even she noted the “profound and even heartbreaking” effect the surge has had, citing the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents earlier this month.
| Location | Status | Key Event |
| Dilley, Texas | Release Ordered | Liam and father to be freed by Tuesday. |
| Minneapolis, MN | Surge Continues | Judge Menendez denies injunction to stop ICE operations. |
| Capitol Hill | Funding Duel | Senate Democrats tie DHS funding to “new restrictions” on the surge. |
What’s Next for Liam?
Liam’s mother, who has been in hiding since the arrest, spoke through tears following the news of the ruling. “I just want to hold him,” she said in a statement. “He is only five. He doesn’t understand why the men in masks took him away from his school bag.”
The family, originally from Ecuador, entered the U.S. legally in 2024 to seek asylum. While they will now be reunited, their underlying immigration case remains active. For now, the “bunny hat boy” will return to Minnesota, but he returns to a city transformed by a federal presence that shows no sign of a full retreat.