By Chloe Rosen
Digital Producer, CBS Minnesota
Updated on: March 18, 2026 / 11:43 PM EDT / CBS Minnesota
A federal immigration judge has denied the asylum claim for the family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, a Minnesota boy whose January arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers drew national attention.
Columbia Heights Public School District, where Liam attends school, said an immigration judge “ended the asylum claims of the family of Liam Conejo Ramos,” calling the development “heartbreaking.” The district said it understands the decision will be appealed and remains hopeful for a positive outcome, adding that it will continue to advocate for and support Liam and all children.
The family’s attorney said they have filed an appeal. Paschal Nwokocha, an immigration lawyer working with the Ramos family, said the decision was issued weeks earlier by an immigration judge in New York and ordered the family removed from the United States. He said the family has appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and while that appeal is pending, the family can remain in the U.S. until the BIA rules.
Nwokocha said the appeal will be vigorously pursued. He added that the family had not had the opportunity to present the merits of their case to an immigration judge before the termination, calling that a central challenge in their litigation.
Liam made headlines in January when he and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, were taken by ICE officers in a sweep known as Operation Metro Surge. According to the school district, on Jan. 20 Liam was taken with his father in their driveway after arriving home from preschool. School officials alleged the child was used as bait to knock on the door to see if anyone else was home.
Both Liam and his father were held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas after a federal judge temporarily barred their deportation. At the time of detention, a then-Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, said Liam had been abandoned by his father and that officers sought the mother to take custody.
In February, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered government officials to release Liam and his father and return them home. In that order, Biery criticized the government, saying the case stemmed from “the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.” Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas helped the pair return to Minneapolis.
Representatives for Liam and his father have said the family is from Ecuador and entered the U.S. in 2024 under a Biden-era program that allowed asylum-seekers to schedule processing appointments via a phone app. The family said they used the app formerly known as CBP One; DHS has said it has no record of the family using the app.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.