Judge orders release of boy, five, and father taken into custody in Minneapolis

A judge on Saturday ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention centre where they were taken after being detained in a Minneapolis suburb.

Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack being surrounded by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, sparked even more outcry about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

It also led to a protest at the family detention centre and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress.

US District Judge Fred Biery, who was appointed by former Democratic president Bill Clinton, said in his ruling “the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatising children”.

A judge had previously ruled that the boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, could not be removed from the US, at least for now.

Neighbours and school officials say federal immigration officers in Minnesota used the preschooler as “bait” by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer.

The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an “abject lie”. It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.

During the January 28 visit with politicians Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, the boy slept in the arms of his father, who said Liam was frequently tired and not eating well at the detention facility housing about 1,100 people, according to Mr Castro.

Detained families report poor conditions such as worms in food, fighting for clean water and poor medical care at the detention centre since its reopening last year.

In December, a report filed by Ice acknowledged they held about 400 children longer than the recommended limit of 20 days.

In his order on Saturday, Judge Biery said that “apparent also is the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence”, suggesting the Trump administration’s actions echo those that then-author and future president Thomas Jefferson enumerated as grievances against England’s King George.

Among them: “He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People” and “He has excited domestic Insurrection among us”.

Judge Biery included in his ruling a photo of Liam and references to two lines in the Bible: “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”, and “Jesus wept”.

He is not the only federal judge who has been tough on Ice recently. A Minnesota-based judge with a conservative pedigree described the agency as a serial violator of court orders related to the crackdown.

Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy, has said there is a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day. It is that figure which the judge seemed to refer to as a “quota”.

Spokespersons from the US Department of Justice and US Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The law firm of Jennifer Scarborough, which is representing the boy and his family, said in a statement that it was working “to ensure a safe and timely reunion”.

“We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal,” they said.