By Chloe Rosen
Digital Producer, CBS Minnesota
Updated on: March 18, 2026 / 11:43 PM EDT / CBS Minnesota
A federal immigration judge has rejected the asylum claim for the family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, the Minnesota boy whose January detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement drew widespread attention.
Columbia Heights Public School District, where Liam is enrolled, said an immigration judge ‘ended the asylum claims of the family of Liam Conejo Ramos,’ calling the ruling ‘heartbreaking.’ The district said it expects the decision will be appealed, remains hopeful for a favorable result, and will continue to advocate for and support Liam and other students.
The family’s lawyer confirmed an appeal has been filed. Paschal Nwokocha, an immigration attorney representing the Ramos family, said the ruling was issued weeks earlier by an immigration judge in New York and ordered the family removed from the United States. The family has appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). While the BIA appeal is pending, the family is permitted to remain in the U.S.
Nwokocha said the appeal will be pursued vigorously. He also said the family was not given the opportunity to present the merits of their case to an immigration judge before their case was terminated, which he called a central issue in their legal challenge.
Liam became the focus of national attention in January when he and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Ramos, were arrested by ICE in a sweep called Operation Metro Surge. School officials say Liam was taken from the driveway after returning from preschool on Jan. 20 and alleged the child was used to knock on the door to see if others were home.
Both Liam and his father were held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas after a federal judge temporarily blocked their deportation. At the time, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said Liam had been abandoned by his father and that officials were seeking the mother to assume custody.
In February, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered the government to release Liam and his father and allow them to return home. In that order, Biery criticized the government’s actions, saying the case arose 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 facilitate the pair’s return to Minneapolis.
Representatives for Liam and his father say the family is from Ecuador and entered the U.S. in 2024 using a Biden-era program that let asylum-seekers schedule processing appointments through a phone app formerly known as CBP One. The family says they used the app; DHS has said it has no record of their use.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.