A federal immigration judge in New York denied asylum in the U.S. to the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy who gained national attention after being detained with his father last January in Minnesota and taken to an immigration center in Texas, where they were held for nearly two weeks.
The information was released in a statement from the Columbia Heights Community School District in the city of Minneapolis, where the child lives and attends school. The note considers “heartbreaking” the decision, which has put the Ecuadorian family at risk of being deported.
Liam Conejo Ramos and family denied asylum
He adds that the arrest of Liam and his father in January shed light on the damage caused by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in Minnesota, during which many children and families were detained.
The image of little Liam with his blue winter bunny hat and a Spider-Man backpack, accompanied by a masked ICE agent in front of the door of his house, after being detained on January 20 when he was returning from school with his father Adrian, circulated throughout the media, generating repudiation and concern for minors detained by immigration authorities.
It also generated great indignation that the officer used the child to get his pregnant mother, Erika Ramos, to open the door.
At the time of the arrest, the family – father, mother, Liam and a 13-year-old brother – already had an asylum application pending before the immigration court.
Liam, who became ill in the family detention center, and his father, were released on January 31 after spending time in the Dilley (Texas) detention center.
But the Department of Homeland Security continued with the deportation process and the court ruled in favor of the federal agency, without giving the Conejo family an opportunity for a hearing.
The judge’s decision was confirmed by Paschal Nwokocha, one of the family’s lawyers, who also indicated that they filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals.
While it is being processed, they can remain in the United States, but they do not know how long it will take.
“The problem lies in the fact that they have not had the opportunity to tell their story before an immigration judge. The judge dismissed the case without them being able to present their arguments,” he lamented.
“Considering all that this family has been through, the trauma and the public reaction, it’s unbelievable that the government continues to traumatize them,” said the attorney, whose Minneapolis law firm Nwokocha & Operana represents the family.
With information from EFE
