New York (EFE).- The five-year-old Ecuadorian boy Liam Conejo and his father Adrian Conejo were released from an immigration center in Texas, where they had been detained since Jan. 22 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat who visited the family detention center with other legislators, confirmed on X that the father and son were released and returned to Minneapolis on Sunday after a Texas federal judge ordered their immediate release on Saturday.
The release of the Ecuadorians from the center in Dilley, south of San Antonio, Texas, occurs after an order issued by federal judge Fred Biery, who in his ruling ordered them to be set free before Tuesday.
«Yesterday (Saturday), five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning (Sunday),» the congressman posted on Facebook.
«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,» the congressman noted.
When the boy was detained, he was wearing a blue rabbit winter hat and a Spider-Man backpack. He kept asking about them while he was at the detention center.
After visiting the center, Castro said that the boy’s father told him that the boy «has not been the same» since the family was detained and that he is worried about the boy’s well-being.
In his ruling, the Texas judge noted that the boy and his father could face deportation due to the «archaic» immigration system. However, he added that «this outcome should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than the current one.»
On Jan. 20, Adrián Conejo was returning home with Liam after picking up his son from school when they were detained as part of the United States President Donald Trump’s government’s mass deportation operation in Minneapolis. Afterwards, an ICE agent took the boy to Conejo’s doorstep and asked him to knock.
The boy’s pregnant mother was looking out the window at what was happening. Still, her husband shouted from the street for her not to open the door, according to Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the local school district, who was passing by at that moment. The boy and his father were subsequently transferred to a center in Texas.
Following Saturday’s judge’s order, Liam’s school district was pleased with the decision: «We want all children to be released from detention centers and the reunification of families who have been unjustly separated.» EFE
rh/dgp
