Wearing a blue cap, standing in the cold outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle, Liam Conejo Ramos was photographed being detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.
It was a moment, casting a light on Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, the federal government's immigration crackdown, which critics say unfairly targeted children and families far from the "worst of the worst" criminals the Trump administration said they were after.
Ramos, the 5-year-old boy that drew national attention after he and his family were detained, flown to Texas, and eventually released after a judge's order, were interviewed recently by CBS reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez.
"What are you scared about the most," he was asked by Montoya-Galvez.
"Immigration, ICE," answered Ramos.
Liam's father says the boy now sees a psychologist, and that he is different since his two-week detention in Texas.
But, Ramos is in many ways just like any other 5-year-old boy, who loves pizza.
"What type of pizza do you like," asked Montoya-Galvez.
"Pepperoni," Ramos says.
What Ramos doesn't yet understand is that his story is at the center of America's polarizing immigration debate.
Images of Liam confused standing alongside ICE agents on a cold Minnesota afternoon in January, sparked national and global outrage. His father, Adrian Conejo Arias, had just picked up Liam from school.
ICE said at the time that Arias tried to escape, flee, and evade arrest. That he had abandoned Liam in the process. Is that accurate?
Through an interpreter, Aria says it is not true. ICE also claims Liam's mother Erica refused to take him, but she says she feared the whole family would be detained, and says she believes ICE was using Liam as bait.
The federal government is still challenging the order that led to the release of Liam and his father, who had their asylum case terminated.
The family, who are from Ecuador, say they entered the country legally at a port of entry in 2023 under a Biden administration program.
