Five-year-old Liam Ramos 'traumatized' after ICE detention as family continues to live in fear

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, MINNESOTA: A five-year-old boy who unwillingly became a poster child for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is still "quite traumatized," according to his lawyer.

Liam Conejo Ramos was thrust into the spotlight after his detention earlier this year.

He is now at the center of a legal tug-of-war after an immigration judge denied his family’s asylum claim and ordered them deported to Ecuador. Their lawyers have filed an appeal, hoping to keep the family in the United States.

Family under pressure, child 'quite traumatized'

Paschal Nwokocha, one of the attorneys representing Liam and his family, offered a telling update during an appearance on MS NOW's 'The Weekend: Primetime.'

“Could you tell us a bit about how Liam is doing, how his family is doing?” host Catherine Rampell asked.

"They are doing okay. They are a very resilient family," he said. "They have had serious challenges. Liam is obviously quite traumatized, and he's getting the help he needs. The family is very supportive and is doing all they can to help him. The mother, who is expecting, is doing okay."

"But the pressure of having been thrust into the limelight. They are so afraid. They are afraid of law enforcement. They are afraid of stepping out, just for the fear of not knowing what could happen to young Liam," he noted, but added that the family was "quite hopeful that eventually they will get the relief they seek in the United States."

Detention, release and living in fear

The ordeal began on January 20, when Liam and his father were detained outside their Columbia Heights home. Within two days, they were transferred to a family detention facility in Dilley, Texas, before being released and returning to Minnesota on February 1.

But freedom didn’t bring peace of mind.

Speaking to MPR News last month, Liam’s father, Adrian Conejo Arias, revealed the family had been living in fear and largely out of sight. He pointed to a bomb threat at Liam’s former elementary school and said ICE agents had been seen patrolling the home they no longer occupied. He also said the Department of Homeland Security was seeking to terminate their asylum claims.

“The truth is, we’re very scared,” he said in an interview conducted in Spanish. “My family, my children, are very scared of what might happen to us and of what we're going through now. We’re still hiding. And we’re still getting bad news.”

A happy reunion followed by trauma

There was a brief moment of relief when Liam left the detention center. “He was so excited, he started crying too. He said, ‘Daddy, we’re finally going to be back with mommy and my brother,’” Conejo Arias said. “Then, when we arrived, we hugged each other, many times, we thought we’d never see each other again.”

But that relief was rather fleeting. “The truth is, he’s not the same boy he was before. Ever since he went in there, he’s suffered psychological trauma; he’s very scared,” Conejo Arias said at the time. “He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy.’”

Liam has also described recurring nightmares involving police officers and still “remembers the moment the ICE agents detained us," according to his father.

Nwokocha has said his firm is “fully committed” to doing everything possible to keep the family in the country.