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A widely shared photograph of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos has come to represent ICE’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. 

The boy is wearing a knit bunny hat complete with floppy white ears, while an ICE agent stands behind him and pulls slightly on his Spider-Man backpack. 

There have been conflicting stories about how Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained by ICE at their Columbia Heights home. The differing versions pit local school officials and observers on the scene against federal immigration agencies. 

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Liam’s mother, Erika Ramos, spoke to MPR News about what she witnessed that day. She also discussed her phone conversations with her son and her husband and the pain she has experienced.

“I need my son and my husband,” she said in Spanish in the interview.

Ramos, 33, is three months pregnant and in hiding now. She said she fears ICE will detain her despite her legal status to be in the United States. Ramos and her 13-year-old son fled their home after ICE agents took away Liam and his father on Jan. 20.

Since their detainment, she said she had to go to a hospital emergency room because of bleeding. Ramos said she is experiencing what she called “extreme levels of stress.”

She said all she wants is for her son and husband to be home.

They are currently being held by federal authorities in the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, an hour plus drive southwest of San Antonio. 

The center has been the site of a violent confrontation this past week between Texas law enforcement and protestors seeking Liam’s release.

A federal judge issued a temporary order Monday prohibiting the deportation of Liam and Conejo Arias. Ramos said Conejo Arias calls her everyday so she can talk to both of them. 

She said Liam asks again and again, “Mommy, why don’t you pick us up?” Or “Mommy, we don’t want to be here anymore. This place is ugly.” Ramos said she weeps upon hearing this.

“The only thing I can say is, ‘Yes, my son, I’ll get you out, just have a little more patience,’” Ramos said.

Ramos also said that Liam noticed a familiar face on the TV screens inside the detention center.

She said, quoting her son, “Mami, I’m on television. They’re showing me on TV. What did you do, Mami, why am I on all the channels?”

He also said other people in the detention center wave to him, according to Ramos.

“My son is basically saying, ‘what’s going on, Mami?’” she said.

Conejo Arias tells her that Liam has been sick. He’s had stomach pain, fever and won’t eat the food because it’s cold, Ramos said. 

ICE officials say Conejo Arias fled and abandoned Liam when agents tried to arrest him that day and then asked agents to have Liam stay with him after he was apprehended. 

Vice President JD Vance later echoed those claims.

“So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do?” Vance asked. “Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?” 

What ICE and Vance are saying is not true, Ramos said. “That version is completely false. I was there.”

Ramos said Conejo Arias didn’t resist arrest. Neighbors and Columbia Heights school officials on the scene that day also said they did not see Conejo Arias flee the scene. 

Ramos said she witnessed from inside the house. She saw ICE agents approach the front of the house as her husband parked their car. Liam was inside the car, crying as they took his father away, she added. Ramos said she too began to cry. 

Her husband and observers on the scene yelled at her not to leave the house.

Ramos said the ICE agents noticed her at the window and then took a crying Liam to the front door. She said they used him as bait. They knocked on the door while Liam said, “Mommy, open the door.”

She said she felt it was an attempt to provoke her so that she’d rush out of the house, giving agents a chance to detain her as well. 

She recalls that when she didn’t open the door, ICE took Liam to a patrol vehicle.

‘My family and I legally entered the United States’

ICE officials say the family entered the United States illegally and that Conejo Arias had an order for removal, but Ramos and her lawyer said that’s not true.

The Ecuadorian family, Ramos said, entered the United States legally. They used the Customs and Border Protection app in December 2024. She also said the family has a scheduled first hearing on Feb. 24, as part of the asylum process. 

She describes her husband as a hardworking, dedicated father committed to keeping his family together — not a criminal as federal officials have tried to portray him. 

Attorney Marc Prokosch, whose firm represents Liam and Adrian, confirmed the family has no criminal record in Minnesota and no order of deportation.

Prokosch said Liam and his dad entered the country legally using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection app at the Brownsville border crossing. 

“If it were up to me, I would go and get on a plane and bring them here. That’s why I’m asking for help, I’m asking for help to have my son sent to me,” she said. “I need my son and my husband.”

Conejo means “rabbit” in Spanish. Ramos said Liam loves his rabbit hat and his teacher would ask about it when it was being cleaned. Ramos said Liam no longer has the hat or his backpack. She added that her husband has told Liam that they are being stored.

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Liam and his father are currently being held by federal authorities in the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, an hour plus drive southwest of San Antonio.

‘Mommy, why don’t you pick us up?’: Mother of Liam Conejo Ramos shares her story from hiding

Courtesy photo

A young boy with a backpack and blue hat stands next to an SUV.

Courtesy of Columbia Heights Public Schools

A masked officer stands behind a young boy behind a chain link fence.

A chain link fence holds a sign reading, "Bring Liam home," with a blurred gray government building in the background.

‘Mommy, why don’t you pick us up?’: Mother of Liam Conejo Ramos shares her story from hiding

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