Camilla Jessen
Congressman says detained 5-year-old “did not look well”.
Texas Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro said he is “concerned” about the condition of Liam Ramos, a five-year-old boy detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on January 20.
According to multiple reports, Liam was taken into custody with his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, after returning home from preschool in Minneapolis.
The boy was allegedly led to his front door by ICE agents and told to knock, a move that officials from his school district later described as “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait.” ICE has disputed aspects of that account.
Liam and his father are now being held at the Dilley ICE detention center in Texas. Liam’s father’s attorney has said Arias is in the US legally and is awaiting asylum.
Visit to facility
Castro said he visited the Dilley center to see conditions firsthand and met with Liam, his father and other detainees. I
n a post on X, he said there were about 1,100 people held there, including “countless more children and families who have done nothing wrong and should not be detained.”
The congressman said he spent about 30 minutes with Liam and Adrian and wanted to reassure those who have been “worried sick” about the child.
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Child’s condition
Castro said Adrian told him that Liam “hasn’t been himself.”
He said the child “wasn’t in any kind of emergency or anything physically” but had been “sleeping a lot because he’s been depressed and sad.”
“Liam said that he misses his classmates and his family and wants to be back at school,” Castro said.
The congressman added that Liam’s classmates “miss him” and have “kept his space and his desk for him and they’re waiting for him to get back.”
Calls for release
Castro said he told ICE officials directly that Liam should not be in detention.
“With Liam, I very bluntly told the ICE officials there […] that the country is against what’s going on, that Liam needs to be released,” he said.
He concluded: “Liam did not look well. My staff and I are very concerned about him.”
“I ask the American people to continue speaking up,” Castro added. “Your voice makes a difference. #FreeLiam.”
Sources: Joaquin Castro on X, Columbia Heights Public Schools, attorney statements
