The federal government filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
The 5-year-old returned home this week after he was detained with his father on January 20 and sent to a detention centre in Texas.
The Department of Homeland Security filed a motion Wednesday to expedite deportation proceedings in the family’s case, said immigration attorney Danielle Molliver with Nwokocha & Operana Law Offices, MPR news reported.
Democrat politician Joaquin Castro slammed the expedition deportation proccedings and said that they are breaking legal precedent in an attempt to break the boy’s spirit and all of the Americans who are praying for him.
"Liam Ramos, 5, spent ten days in a Texas trailer prison. He got sick, missed his mother and school, and was afraid of the guards. Millions prayed, spoke up, and offered to do whatever they could to see him go home. Then a federal judge ordered his release and I escorted him and his father home to Minnesota. But now the Trump Administration is trying to take him again. They are breaking legal precedent in an attempt to break this boy’s spirit and all of the Americans who are praying for him," Castro said.
A hearing is scheduled for Friday, although Molliver is requesting more time to respond. She said she thought the motion was "retaliatory."
"It's really frustrating as an attorney, because they keep throwing new obstacles in our way. There's absolutely no reason that this should be expedited. It's not very common," Molliver said.
Molliver said the federal govt may not deport them to Ecuador, their home country. Instead, the family could apply for asylum in a third country.
Liam’s father, Adrian Conejo Arias, said they don’t know what will happen to them.
"The government is moving many pieces, it's doing everything possible to do us harm, so that they’ll probably deport us. We live with that fear too,” Conejo Arias said. The interview was conducted in Spanish and translated by MPR News.
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