Immigrant Families Protest at Dilley After 5-Year-Old Transfer
Dozens protested at the South Texas Family Residential Center after ICE transferred 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, AP reported Jan. 22, 2025.
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Associated PressImmigrant families protest at Texas facility housing 5-year-old boy, father detained in Minnesota
Overview
Dozens of immigrant families protested behind fences at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley after ICE transferred 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, AP reported Jan. 22, 2025.
The transfer followed a Dec. 17, 2024, immigration court filing and prompted dueling accounts, with Columbia Heights Superintendent Zena Stenvik calling agents' actions 'bait' and DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin calling that an 'abject lie.'
Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said ICE 'were the only people primarily concerned with the welfare of this child' and that officers tried extensively to reunite him with relatives, officials said.
Advocates say at least 3,800 children were detained under the second Trump administration and more than 500 were under age five, while the South Texas facility's listed capacity is about 2,600 individuals, records show.
The family's case remains in Dilley immigration court after a Dec. 17, 2024, filing, and advocates said the May 12, 2025, ICE memo on administrative warrants could face legal challenges.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the story as sympathetic to immigrant families by foregrounding protests, children's imagery and alleged facility conditions (e.g., 'food with worms,' chants of 'Libertad'), while including DHS denials later. Language like 'lightning rod' and emphasis on school and advocate claims prioritize human-impact perspectives over agency justifications.