Federal immigration officials are moving to fast-track the deportation case of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his family, according to their attorney. The federal government filed a motion on Wednesday to speed up removal proceedings and shut down the Minnesota family's asylum bid, said their legal team, per MPR News. Liam had just returned home this week after being detained with his father on Jan. 20 and transported to a Texas detention facility. A hearing took place on Friday, with the family's lawyers being told they'd have more time to respond.
"The government was bent on removing this family from the United States," said attorney Paschal Nwokocha. "We were able to get additional time to do what we need to do in court." Another lawyer, Danielle Molliver, calls the government's moves against Liam and his family "extraordinary" and potentially "retaliatory," per the New York Times. Department of Homeland Security rep Tricia McLaughlin, meanwhile, insisted the hearing was routine. "This is standard procedure, and there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation's immigration laws," McLaughlin said, per ABC News.
Lawyers say the family may not be sent back to Ecuador, their home country; instead, they could be directed to seek protection in a third country, per MPR News. Liam's father, Adrian Conejo Arias, said the family remains in limbo. "The government is moving many pieces," he said in Spanish, in comments translated by MPR. "It's doing everything possible to do us harm, so that they'll probably deport us. We live with that fear, too."
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