An immigration judge has denied asylum for Liam Ramos, the small boy in a bunny hat that was detained in January, and his family.
Ramos gained internet recognition when he was photographed being detained by ICE agents while wearing his Spiderman backpack during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis in January. His father was also detained at the time and the pair were taken to a facility in Texas.
Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, from Ecuador, were held for 10 days at the notoriously problematic South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX before a judge ordered their release.
The family’s attorneys have said they intend to appeal the ruling handed down by Judge John Burns.
“We’re just gravely disappointed in the judge’s misguided decision,” Danielle Molliver said. “We’re committed to the family and we’ll fight the appeal, obviously, the best that we can.
She noted that although Ramos is back in Minneapolis and attending school, he and his father were traumatized by their previous detention.
“They’re scared” about what could lie ahead, she said.
The arrest and detention of the child and his father garnered national attention, as neighbors said that DHS officials used Ramos as bait by having him knock on the door of his home to get his mother to come outside. Of course, DHS has denied that allegation and said that his father fled and left the child in a car. Arias denies that claim.
DHS has said that Arias came to the United States illegally in December 2024. The family’s attorney said that he entered legally, requested asylum, and thus, should be allowed to remain in the United States.
The Ramos Conejo family consists of Liam, his 13-year-old brother, his father, and pregnant mother, Erika Ramos.
