Preschooler, 5, Detained with His Dad in Texas by ICE Fell 'Ill' & Is 'Depressed' as Family Raises Concerns About His Health
Worrying reports are emerging about Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old Minnesota preschooler that was detained alongside his father by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month.
Photos of Liam in a bright blue hat and plaid coat with a Spider-Man backpack over his shoulders went viral when he and his dad, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were apprehended by ICE in Minnesota on the way home from school on January 20.
Marc Prokosch, a lawyer working with Adrian and Liam, reported that his clients had been taken to Texas. It’s since been revealed that they’re being held together at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
This week, multiple sources close to the family are raising red flags that Liam is seemingly in poor health and suffering while he remains in custody.
Keep reading to find out more…
On Wednesday (January 28), Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro wrote that he visited with Liam and his dad in the detention center, saying that he “demanded [Liam's] release and told him how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him” in a statement on Instagram.
Castro shared a photo of himself spending time with the father and son. In it, Liam was in his dad’s arms and appeared to be asleep while dressed in grey sweatpants and a dark sweatshirt.
After his visit, he reflected on the experience in a video, saying that he spent “about 30 minutes” with Liam and Adrian and that Adrian expressed some concerns about his son.
The congressman said that Liam‘s dad was worried that “he hasn’t been himself” and “has been sleeping a lot because he’s depressed and sad.”
He noted that Liam was asleep the entire time that they were together, though Castro said at the time that he hadn’t noticed any signs that the child was in an “emergency” physically.
Although Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin referred to Adrian as an “illegal alien” in a statement supplied to Just Jared earlier this month, both Castro and Prokosch denied those claims, saying that the family was going through the right channels and had claimed asylum.
Regarding the Trump administration’s claims that ICE is targeting criminals in their raids, Castro said, “There are no criminals in Dilley.”
“If you’ve committed a crime, and they detain you with your son or your daughter… You’re an adult and you have a family member or child, they separate you and send the child to what is known as an ORR facility, which is run by Health and Human Services,” Castro said, noting that many in the detention center were still with their children.
Castro‘s visit to the detention center comes as Liam‘s mom Erika Ramos spoke out to MPR News, saying that her son and husband’s conditions are “deeply concerning.”
“Liam is getting sick because the food they receive is not of good quality. He has stomach pain, he’s vomiting, he has a fever and he no longer wants to eat,” she said.
Speaking to Huffington Post, Zena Stenvik — the superintendent for the Columbia Heights Public Schools, where Liam goes to school — also raised concerns, saying that the child’s “health is not doing great right now.”
“He’s been ill. I’ve been told he has a fever. So I’m very, very concerned about his well-being in that facility,” she told the outlet.
On Thursday (January 29), Castro returned to Facebook, vowing that he would visit Liam again.
“Liam did not look well. My staff and I are very concerned about him,” he wrote, adding, “I ask my colleagues in Congress — House and Senate — to join me. I ask the American people to continue speaking up. Your voice makes a difference.”
At the time Liam was detained, the school district noted that he was one of four students in the district that had been detained by ICE.
Just Jared reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well the family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, but did not hear back at the time of publication.