Liam Conejo Ramos is being detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, along with his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias
The 5-year-old was shown either dozing off or lying limp in his father’s arms(Image: AP)
Liam Conejo Ramos, the preschooler who was apprehended by ICE officers in Minneapolis last week and taken to a Texas detention facility with his father, is currently in bad health.
The superintendent of Ramos’ Columbia Heights public school district, Zena Stenvik, said that she had a conversation with the mother of the 5-year-old on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, Liam’s health is not doing great right now,” said Stenvik. “He’s been ill. I’ve been told he has a fever. So I’m very, very concerned about his well-being in that facility.”
According to his mother, she is also “incredibly distraught.” Earlier this week, Ramos’ mother spoke to MPR News about his declining health, saying, “Liam is getting sick because the food they receive is not of good quality,” she told MPR News on Monday. “He has stomach pain, he’s vomiting, he has a fever and he no longer wants to eat.”
Ramos is being detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, along with his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. According to Prokosch, this is true even though Arias entered the nation lawfully and has no criminal history. Ramos and Arias’ deportation was briefly halted by a federal judge late on Tuesday.
Attorney Eric Lee, who represents other families detained at the Texas facility where Ramos is being held, describes the conditions as “absolutely abysmal.”
Ramos and Arias’ deportation was briefly halted by a federal judge late on Tuesday(Image: Columbia Heights Public Schools)
“They mix baby formula with water that is putrid. The food has bugs in it. The guards are often verbally abusive,” Lee told Minnesota Public Radio on Monday. “One of my clients had appendicitis, collapsed in the hallway, was vomiting from pain, and the officials told him, ‘Take a Tylenol and come back in three days.’”
The children were stowed away in their dorms when Lee visited the detention center this month. He speculated that it was intentional.
Witnesses said ICE agents tried using Ramos as “bait” to detain other migrants(Image: Columbia Heights Public Schools/)
“The families are not allowed to leave their dorms today. That is extremely unusual. I’ve never heard of that happening before. And they’re trying to prohibit the children inside from exercising their free speech,” Lee said
Ramos and his father were among the children and families detained at the Texas ICE facility when Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) visited on Wednesday.
After their meeting, he shared a picture on social media. It depicts Castro standing with Ramos, who is either dozing off or lying limp in his father’s arms.
“Just visited with Liam and his father at Dilley detention center,” Castro wrote. “I demanded his release and told him how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him.”
