Father of 5-year-old detained in Minnesota disputes government assertion he abandoned the boy

The begetter of a 5-year-old lad who was detained by migration officers and held astatine an national installation successful Texas denied authorities accounts Monday that helium abandoned his lad arsenic the brace returned to Minnesota.

Adrian Conejo Arias, who is primitively from Ecudador, told ABC News that helium loves his son, Liam, and would ne'er wantonness him, disputing statements from the Department of Homeland Security, which alleged that Arias had near his kid successful a vehicle. He besides said his lad got sick portion successful national custody but was denied medicine.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said successful a connection that Arias fled connected ft earlier helium was arrested, “abandoning his child.” She said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stayed with the boy.

“The facts successful this lawsuit person NOT changed: The begetter who was illegally successful the state chose to instrumentality his kid with him to a detention center," she said.

McLaughlin did not code Arias' connection that his lad was denied medicine portion successful custody.

Arias besides said helium was arrested unjustly and contended helium was successful the state legally, with a pending tribunal proceeding for asylum.

The comments travel aft a national justice ordered implicit the play that the brace beryllium freed. They were released Sunday and returned to Minnesota, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas.

The family's apprehension and merchandise unfolded during President Donald Trump's crackdown connected immigration, which has led to regular protests that included the shooting deaths of 2 American citizens by national officers. The president past week ordered his apical borderline advisor to oversee the crackdown days aft the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive attraction caregiver astatine a Veterans Affairs hospital.

Border czar Tom Homan suggested that mistakes person been made, but helium said agents would proceed to enforce national instrumentality and called connected section and authorities officials to cooperate with national officers.

The boy's detention drew outrage arsenic images of migration officers surrounding the young lad successful a bluish bunny chapeau and Spider-Man backpack began to surface.

McLaughlin said ICE did not people oregon apprehension the boy, and she repeated assertions that his parent refused to instrumentality him aft his father’s apprehension. His begetter told officers helium wanted Liam to beryllium with him, she said.

McLaughlin besides said past period that the kid was abandoned and that officers tried to get the parent to instrumentality custody of the child. “Officers adjacent assured her she would NOT beryllium taken into custody.”

Neighbors and schoolhouse officials said national officers utilized the kid arsenic “bait,” telling him to sound connected his house’s doorway truthful his parent would travel out. DHS disputed that description.

Marcos Charles, acting enforcement subordinate manager of ICE enforcement and removal operations, faulted the begetter for “abandoning his kid successful the mediate of wintertime successful a vehicle.” He told reporters 1 serviceman stayed with the kid portion others arrested the father.

The authorities said the boy’s begetter entered the U.S. illegally from Ecuador successful December 2024. The family’s lawyer said helium has a pending asylum assertion that allows him to enactment successful the U.S.

The immense bulk of asylum-seekers are released successful the United States, with adults having eligibility for enactment permits, portion their cases upwind done a backlogged tribunal system.

Ecuadorians, who near successful droves successful caller years arsenic their state spiraled into violence, person fared poorly successful migration court, with judges granting asylum successful 12.5% of decisions successful the 12-month play done September, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a information gathering and probe enactment based astatine Syracuse University.

In ordering the merchandise of Liam and his father, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery blasted the administration, penning that the lawsuit had “its genesis successful the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented authorities pursuit of regular deportation quotas, seemingly adjacent if it requires traumatizing children.”

The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review’s online tribunal docket shows nary aboriginal hearings for Liam’s father.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.