Liam Conejo Ramos, 5-year-old detained by ICE in viral second, is now sick and asking for his mother in detention middle | EUROtoday

Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers in Minneapolis, is now sick, sleeping rather a lot and asking for his mother, in response to his household and lawmakers who’ve visited him.

Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, drew nationwide consideration once they have been taken by ICE final week. The viral picture of the younger boy carrying a blue, bunny-ear hat and a Spider-Man backpack throughout his father’s detainment has solely additional fueled the outrage in Minnesota and nationwide over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, each Democrats from Texas, visited Liam and his father Wednesday at a detention facility, the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Both lawmakers reported being alarmed by the kid’s situation and are demanding his launch.

Castro mentioned the preschooler asking for his mother and his household, and telling his father he desires to return to high school.

“He seemed lethargic. His father said that Liam has been sleeping a lot, that he’s been asking about his family, his mom and his classmates, and saying that he wants to go be back in school with his classmates,” Castro mentioned at a press convention Wednesday.

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“He’s asked about his backpack and his cap that he was wearing when they picked him up in Minnesota,” he added.

Crockett shared her worries for the kid in an interview with CNN Wednesday after the go to.

“He was so lethargic. He was never alert, the entire time that we were there. I was very, very concerned about his health,” she mentioned. “His father indicated that he was not eating, that they had determined that he was depressed.”

Crockett additionally instructed CNN that the five-year-old solely has one set of garments, which his father washes each night time after he goes to sleep.

Liam’s mom, Erika Ramos, instructed Minnesota Public Radio that her son’s well being was deteriorating.

“The situation of my husband Adrian and my son Liam inside the detention center is deeply concerning,” she mentioned Monday. “Liam is getting sick because the food they receive is not of good quality. He has stomach pain, he’s vomiting, he has a fever and he no longer wants to eat.”

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The lawmakers additionally voiced deep issues in regards to the state of the Dilley facility as an entire.

Crockett instructed CNN she heard issues that the consuming water is making some folks sick. Castro mentioned he heard from attorneys who mentioned their shoppers have been “locked in their room and “there isn’t always proper medical treatment” on the facility.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin pushed again on these claims in a press release to CNN.

“The Dilley Immigration Processing Center is NOT on lockdown,” she mentioned. “Additionally, ICE would NEVER deny any illegal alien medical care. These types of smears are leading to our officers facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them.”

Castro mentioned Thursday he’s planning to go to Liam and different residents on the Texas facility tomorrow.

“I will be putting in notice Friday morning with DHS to return to Dilley to check on Liam again and the many other children and families there. Liam did not look well. My staff and I are very concerned about him,” Castro wrote on X.

Federal officers have defended the detainment of Liam and his father.

McLaughlin has mentioned ICE “did NOT target, arrest a child or use a child as ‘bait,’” and that brokers “abided by the father’s wishes to keep the child with him.” Marcos Charles, acting executive associate director of ICE enforcement and removal operations, has accused Liam’s father of “abandoning his child in the middle of winter in a vehicle.”

The DHS has characterised Liam’s father as an “illegal alien.” The household’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, instructed reporters final week the daddy and son “came legally and are pursuing a legal pathway.”

The Independent has contacted DHS for remark.