Administration seeking expedited removal of 5-year-old and family, Rep. Castro says
Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro said Friday that the Trump administration has filed for the expedited deportation of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his family, days after a federal judge ordered their release from immigration detention.
The 5-year-old and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained by federal agents last week and sent to a Texas detention facility, before they returned to Minneapolis on Sunday after a judge ordered the government to release them.
They had a pending asylum case but no order of deportation directing that they be removed from the United States, ABC News previously reported.
An asylum hearing for the family that was originally scheduled for later this month was moved up to Friday. In a statement to ABC News, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin characterized the hearing as a regular removal proceeding.
"They are not in expedited removal," McLaughlin said. "This is standard procedure and there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation's immigration laws."
A school official told ABC News that the immigration judge overseeing Friday's hearing granted Liam Conejo Ramos and his family a continuance -- i.e., a formal postponement of the case to a later date.
"Our concern remains centered on Liam and all children who deserve stability, safety and the opportunity to be in school without fear," said Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik. "We will continue to advocate for outcomes that prioritize children."
"He was traumatized in Dilley, but now the Trump administration is trying to take him away again," Rep. Castro said in a post on X, referring to the Dilley detention center in Texas. "The Department of Justice has filed for expedited deportation, which would take him away again."
