By Holly Yan, CNN
(CNN) — Bundled up in his tiny plaid coat and blue knit bunny hat, 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos looks terrified as strangers take him away from his home in Minnesota.
A masked federal agent walks behind the preschooler, holding the handle of his Spiderman backpack as Liam gets into a snow-streaked black SUV – and later, on a plane with his father to a family detention facility in Texas.
What exactly led Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take Liam and his dad away from their suburban Minneapolis driveway remains in dispute.
But the boy’s plight – and his uncertain future – sparked renewed outrage: Liam is now the fourth child from his school district to be taken away by ICE in just the past two weeks, Columbia Heights Public Schools said.
Here’s what we know about Liam’s story:
His family came to the US legally, attorney says, but DHS calls the father an illegal alien
Liam and his family are originally from Ecuador and presented themselves to border officers in Texas in December 2024 to apply for asylum, said the family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch.
“These are not illegal aliens,” Prokosch said. “They were following all the established protocols, pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings, and posed no safety, no flight risk and never should have been detained.”
But the Department of Homeland Security described Liam’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, as an illegal alien who was the target of the operation.
Why Liam is in a detention facility instead of at home with his mother
Liam was just steps away from his home, where his mother was inside. Why he was separated from his mom is a point of debate.
According to DHS, “The child was ABANDONDED by his father, and the alleged mother REFUSED to take custody of her own child,” the agency posted Friday on X.
“Our law enforcement took care of the child, got him McDonald’s and played him his favorite music to comfort him.”
DHS also said officers “made multiple attempts to get the mother inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her that they would NOT take her into custody. She refused to accept custody of the child.”
But Liam’s mother, who is pregnant and also has a teenage son, was “terrified” of the agents outside her door, said Pastor Sergio Amezcua, who has been helping the mother since her husband and son were taken away.
“ICE agents were trying to use the baby to get her to come out of her house, but the neighbors … advised her not to do it,” fearing she would be detained, Amezcua said.
ICE disputed that claim, saying the agency has never “used a child as bait.”
“My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family,” said Marcos Charles, the executive associate director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Agents took the boy with them after his father told officers he wanted Liam to stay with him, according to DHS.
‘Please do not open the door!’
One of the witnesses who was driving by and saw agents take Liam away was Mary Granlund – the school board chair at Columbia Heights Public Schools.
She described a commotion at the scene, with onlookers telling agents: “What are you doing? Don’t take the