Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Trump administration plans to appeal a judge’s order requiring the release of a 5-year-old boy and his father who were detained by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last week.
Federal authorities flew Adrian Conejo Arias and his son, Liam Conejo Ramos, back to Minneapolis on Sunday after they had been held at a detention facility in Texas.
Mr. Blanche on Sunday didn’t directly address U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s ruling on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I don’t have a comment specifically on what that judge said yesterday, but generally speaking, we are complying with the law every single day,” he said.
The No. 2 Justice Department official also pushed back on reports that Mr. Conejo Arias had followed the proper legal process for seeking asylum from Ecuador.
“That is not true,” Mr. Blanche said, challenging ABC News host George Stephanopoulos. “There’s a very meaningful dispute about whether they had properly applied for asylum.”
“And again, I cannot get into the specifics, the specifics of this litigation, but you can read the same briefs I can, and what you just said is not true,” he added.
Rep. Joaquin Castron, Texas Democrat, said Sunday that he escorted Liam and his father back to Minnesota, celebrating their return.
“Liam is now home,” Mr. Castro posted on X with photos of the youngster. “With his hat and his backpack.”
The case exploded nationally after a video of Mr. Conejo Arias being arrested went viral, showing Liam in a bright blue bunny hat and a Spider‑Man backpack.
Judge Biery, a Clinton appointee, ruled Saturday in Texas that the pair must be released from ICE custody, saying their detention violated principles rooted in the Declaration of Independence.
Local officials say the arrest happened on Jan. 20 after Mr. Conejo Arias picked up Liam from school.
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security say Mr. Conejo Arias entered the U.S. illegally in 2024 and ran when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers approached him, leaving Liam behind in a vehicle.
Immigration officials say Mr. Conejo Arias chose to have Liam accompany him to the family detention facility in Texas rather than place him in social services.
In his Saturday ruling, Judge Biery delivered a scorching critique of the administration’s handling of the case.
“Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of the arcane U.S. immigration system, return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation,” he wrote. “But that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place.”
He ended his opinion with the photo of Liam in his blue snow hat and citations to two Bible verses — Matthew 19:14, where Jesus welcomes children, and John 11:35: “Jesus wept.”
Mr. Blanche said the Trump administration is trying to clean up a mess it inherited from the Biden administration.
“What we’re doing. Is tough. What we’re doing is difficult,” he said. “I mean, we’re talking about a situation where millions and millions and millions of undocumented, illegal aliens have flooded our country, and we are trying to find them basically one by one.”
