The Department of Homeland Security said on Friday it is seeking to remove a 5-year-old Ecuadorean boy who was detained in Minnesota last month, confirming that formal removal proceedings are underway.
The department pushed back on a claim that the child was being put through an expedited deportation process after the boy's lawyer, Danielle Molliver, told the New York Times that the Trump administration was pursuing such a route. Molliver characterized the action as "extraordinary" and suggested it might be "retaliatory."
A department spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, responded to those remarks by saying, "These are regular removal proceedings," and adding, "This is standard procedure and there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws."
Attempts to obtain comment from lawyers representing the child, identified as Liam Conejo Ramos, and from the Department of Justice did not immediately elicit responses.
Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, entered the United States as asylum applicants and were detained at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dilley, Texas. A judge ordered their release on January 31, and they subsequently returned to Minnesota.
The Department of Homeland Security has accused Conejo Arias of being in the United States illegally, but provided no further details in its statement regarding that claim.
The case drew wide attention after photographs circulated showing the child wearing a blue bunny hat and a Spider-Man backpack outside his home while federal agents took him into custody. The images contributed to national coverage and public interest in the matter.
The government action comes amid broader federal activity in Minnesota. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have said in recent weeks they sought to reduce tensions in the state after the deployment of thousands of immigration agents as part of a crackdown. That deployment has prompted protests across Minnesota, where demonstrators have opposed the presence of immigration agents. The article noted that agents have fatally shot two U.S. citizens in the state, and those incidents have factored into public unrest.
The Department of Homeland Security described its process in this case as routine removal proceedings, while the child’s counsel framed the move as out of the ordinary. At the time of reporting, neither counsel for the child nor the Department of Justice had provided additional comment.