DHS fires back after Dem accuses ICE of ‘needlessly’ detaining boy with father after mom refused to take him

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of “needlessly” detaining a 5-year-old child with his illegal immigrant father after the agency said his mother refused to take custody.

In an X post featuring pictures of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, Duckworth, a second-term senator, wrote that “Trump’s ICE snatched this bright, happy 5-year-old from his driveway.”

“They shipped him 1,300 miles to suffer, without his mother, in a squalid Texas detention center. And now he’s growing ill. Democrats are fighting to end this cruelty,” she wrote. “Liam is not a criminal. Let him go.”

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However, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin posted a statement from Dr. Sean Conley, acting director of DHS’ Office of Health Security and chief medical officer, in which he addressed the child’s condition.

Conley said that a pediatrician examined Ramos and “found no medical concerns.”

“It is standard policy to provide medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility and access to necessary medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. This is the best healthcare many of these individuals have received in their entire lives,” said Conley.  

The doctor added that “ensuring the safety, security and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE.”

He said illegal aliens are “provided with three meals a day that are certified by dieticians, including pediatric considerations.”

In response, Duckworth told Fox News Digital, “The Trump administration suggesting that needlessly keeping a 5-year-old in federal custody is in his best interests is appalling.

“Detaining children like this is cruel, no matter what Trump’s DHS says,” said Duckworth. “The best thing they can do for Liam is return him to his mother.”

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Ramos was taken into custody along with his illegal immigrant father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, by federal immigration authorities Jan. 20 in a suburb of Minneapolis. They are both being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas. 

Federal authorities were trying to take Conejo into custody in Minneapolis last week when he fled and left Ramos, who was arriving home from preschool, the Department of Homeland Security said. 

Some ICE officers remained with the boy while others chased down Conejo, who was apprehended soon after. 

ICE officers made multiple attempts to have Ramo’s mother, who was inside her home, take custody of her son, but she refused, DHS said. 

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McLaughlin said “officers even assured her she would not be taken her into custody,” but “the alleged mother refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him.”

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“Following the mother’s abandonment of the child, officers abided by the father’s wishes to keep the child with him. Father and son are together at Dilley [Immigration Processing Center],” DHS said in an X post. 

Conejo entered the U.S. illegally in December 2024 and was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration, DHS said. The family’s attorney said he had a pending asylum claim allowing him to stay in the country.

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting Arias and his child.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.