A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of a 5-year-old Minnesota boy and his father after they were detained by federal immigration officers and transferred to a detention facility in Texas, issuing a stinging rebuke of the Trump administration’s handling of the case.
In a ruling issued Saturday, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery condemned the government’s actions against Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, stating that both were denied basic constitutional protections. The judge said the pair “seek nothing but the modicum of due process and the rule of law.”
The case drew national attention after federal officers detained the father and son last week when Conejo Ramos returned home from pre-school. An image of the young boy wearing a bright blue hat and carrying a Spider-Man backpack quickly circulated on social media, fueling public outrage amid heightened tensions surrounding immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
In his written opinion, Biery accused the administration of exercising unchecked authority and disregarding constitutional limits. “Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency,” he wrote. “And the rule of law be damned.”
The judge also took direct aim at the legal basis used for the detention, arguing that executive-issued administrative warrants fail to meet constitutional standards. “Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster,” Biery wrote. “That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer.”
The ruling represents a significant judicial intervention in ongoing immigration operations under President Trump, reinforcing due process requirements and setting boundaries on the use of executive authority in immigration enforcement.
