Federal Judge Orders Release of 5-Year-Old and Father After ICE Detention

Judge Criticizes Enforcement Tactics but Declines Broader Halt to Operation Metro Surge

A federal judge has ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father who were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during a controversial raid in a Minneapolis suburb, delivering a sharp rebuke of the federal government’s enforcement practices while allowing a larger immigration operation to continue.

The judge’s ruling directs ICE to free Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, from a family detention facility in Texas by early this week. The pair were taken into custody earlier this month as part of the Trump administration’s expanded immigration enforcement initiative in Minnesota, which has drawn intense public scrutiny following viral images of the boy — clad in a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack — being led away by federal agents.

In his written opinion, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery denounced the government’s approach, describing the detention of a young child and his parent as part of an enforcement strategy that risks traumatizing families. He criticized the use of broad administrative authority by ICE and emphasized the need for more humane and orderly immigration procedures.

At the same time, in a separate ruling, another federal judge rejected a request to immediately halt Operation Metro Surge, the expansive ICE operation in Minnesota that has led to thousands of arrests and heightened tensions between federal agents and local communities. The judge overseeing that case determined the plaintiffs — including the state and city officials — had not met the legal standard required to freeze the enforcement actions at this early stage of litigation.

The juxtaposition of these rulings highlights growing legal and political battles over immigration enforcement, with courts scrutinizing specific practices even as broad operations continue. Advocates for detained families have welcomed the release order, while critics of the larger operation signal their legal fight is far from over.