The 5‑year‑old is Liam Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian asylum‑seeker who was taken into custody alongside his father during an ICE operation in the Minneapolis area on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. The incident has become a flashpoint because school officials and advocates say agents effectively used him as bait ❗, while DHS, ICE, and senior Trump officials insist agents acted to protect the child after the father “abandoned” him and requested that he be kept with him in custody.[1][2][3][4][5]