MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� An immigration judge has denied the asylum claim of the family of , the 5-year-old boy photographed in a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack as he was detained with his father during the immigration crackdown that shook Minneapolis earlier this year, a family lawyer said.
They were ordered deported to Ecuador, she said.
The boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who is from Ecuador, were taken into custody in a Minneapolis suburb on Jan. 20 and held for 10 days in a Texas detention center before a .
The family鈥檚 lawyers are appealing the ruling by Judge John Burns.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just gravely disappointed in the judge鈥檚 misguided decision,鈥� said Danielle Molliver. 鈥淲e鈥檙e committed to the family and we鈥檒l fight the appeal, obviously, the best that we can.鈥�
An appeal could take years to move through the courts, though Molliver said she expected the government to push for a speedier process.
鈥淎t minimum, I would hope we have a couple months,鈥� she said.
Molliver said Liam is back in his suburban Minneapolis school, but that he and his father were badly shaken by their time in detention.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e scared鈥� now about what could happen, she said.
The arrests and national coverage unfolded during a surge of thousands of immigration officers across the Minneapolis area, leading to daily protests and the shooting deaths of two American citizens by federal officers.
Neighbors and school officials have accused federal immigration officers of using by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would come outside. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an 鈥渁bject lie.鈥� Officials have said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a vehicle in their driveway. He has denied that.
The government said the boy鈥檚 father entered the U.S. illegally in December 2024. The family鈥檚 lawyer, however, say he entered legally, requesting asylum, and that his asylum claim allows him to stay in the U.S.
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