Federal judge denies asylum for five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, highlighting ongoing debates over family detention, due process, and immigration enforcement in the United States.
The image of a boy wearing a rabbit hat and carrying a Spider-Man backpack, surrounded by federal agents, didn’t just make headlines across the United States—it became a global symbol of an increasingly aggressive immigration policy. At the center of that moment is the Liam Conejo Ramos asylum case, which transformed a five-year-old preschooler in Minnesota into one of the most visible faces of the immigration crackdown under the Trump administration. Now, his case is entering a decisive phase. Federal immigration judge John Burns has denied his family’s asylum request, paving the way for their deportation, although the process is not yet final.
The family’s lawyers have appealed the decision, allowing them to remain in the country while the case remains under review. The ruling, as attorney Paschal Nwokocha explained to the press, is not recent, although it was made public this week. “A few weeks ago, an immigration judge based in New York issued a decision to terminate their asylum application and order them removed from the United States,” he noted. However, I have clarified that the appeal has already been filed with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and remains pending.
The most controversial aspect of the ruling is that, according to the defense, the family — originally from Ecuador — never had the opportunity to fully present their case. “The challenge we have is that they have not had a chance to actually tell their story to an immigration judge. Judge Burns terminated it without the benefit of them presenting the merits of their case to the court,” Nwokocha stated.
Liam’s story began to garner national attention on January 20, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained him and his father at the entrance to their home in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, during an immigration enforcement operation in that state. According to school officials, the boy was allegedly used as a decoy so that agents could enter the home, an accusation that sparked public outrage.
Both were transferred to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas. The detention occurred even though the family had an asylum application pending after entering the United States in 2024.
