A U.S. Democratic congressman said Wednesday that a five-year-old boy detained with his father by federal immigration agents in Minnesota was "depressed and sad" in a detention facility in Texas.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who are asylum seekers from Ecuador, on Jan. 20.
Images of the pre-schooler wearing a blue bunny hat and backpack being held by officers who were seeking to arrest his father rekindled public outrage at the federal immigration crackdown, during which agents have shot dead two U.S. citizens.
Local school officials said agents used the boy as "bait" to draw his father out of his home.
Texas Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro said Wednesday he spent about 30 minutes with Liam and his father in the detention facility in Dilley, Texas.
"His dad said that he hasn't been himself, that he's been sleeping a lot because he's been depressed and sad," Castro said in a video posted to X.
He added that Liam was asleep during his visit.
"I am concerned about his mental state," Castro said.
A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the deportation of Liam and his father this week, saying that the federal government could not move the pair out of the court's jurisdiction while they challenge their detention.
"I told everybody very clearly that the country is against what's going on, that Liam needs to be released, that the country demands his release and that no child that's five years old should be in detention like that," Castro said of his visit.
The boy's family was "legally allowed to come into the United States because they had applied for asylum" through a proper pathway, he added.
About 100 people protested outside the Dilley facility on Wednesday to demand the child's release and push back against a sweeping immigration crackdown by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Texas state police officers used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
Castro said he spent about three and a half hours at the facility speaking with parents and families.
"There are no criminals in Dilley," he said in his video.
"Donald Trump said this was about arresting illegal criminal aliens - that's his language. There isn't a single criminal over there."
