US Pursues Deportation of 5-Year-Old Amid Minnesota Immigration Crackdown

The Department of Homeland Security says it will continue with removal proceedings to deport five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, denying claims it is expediting the case or acting in retaliation; the Ecuadorian asylum seekers were detained after a Jan. 20 arrest and briefly held in Texas before being returned to Minnesota, where a judge ordered their release pending challenges to expulsion. The case has become a flashpoint in Minnesota’s immigration crackdown (Operation Metro Surge) and broader debates over enforcement, with the family’s lawyers alleging retaliation and critics highlighting concerns about treatment of migrants and due process.