A 5-year-old boy, whose detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement distilled the nation’s growing outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, made his journey to a Texas detention facility with Delta Air Lines, newly-released airport security footage shows.
In footage from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Liam Conejo Ramos, five, and his father, Adrián Conejo Arias, appear to be accompanied by three people before boarding a flight to San Antonio on January 21. Conejo Arias can be seen carrying his son’s backpack and holding his hand, as Liam looks around the terminal.
The preschooler was apprehended by ICE agents in January after federal agents detained his father, a migrant from Ecuador, during ramped-up operations in Minneapolis.
The photo of Liam, standing in the snow wearing a blue, woolly bunny hat while an agent holds onto his Spiderman backpack, has become one of the defining images of President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-immigration agenda.
The airport footage was obtained through an information disclosure request to Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport by activist Nick Benson with MN50501 – a Minnesota-based organization that advocates against Trump’s policies.
The footage shows Liam and his father walking with what appears to be three other people through the terminal. It is unclear who the accompanying individuals are, but they separately approached the Delta gate desk and handed an airline employee what appears to be a form of ID.
Once they arrived in Texas, Liam and his father were taken to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley.
Texas lawmakers Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, who visited the father and son at the detention center, said the young boy appeared “lethargic” and was crying out for his mother.
The father and son spent roughly 10 days at the facility before a federal judge ordered their release, condemning Trump officials for “the imposition of cruelty” in detaining the five-year-old.
Delta Air Lines declined to comment to The Independent.
Delta had previously not publicly commented on whether its flight was used to bring Liam and Conejo Arias to Texas.
But the airline was featured in an ABC News report in February that showed the father and son flying back home to Minneapolis. In that report, Delta pilots allowed Liam to sit in the cockpit before departure and gave him a pair of wings.
Government agencies often book air travel through third parties such as travel agencies, and airlines may not have advance notice or details regarding who is flying or for what reason.
The Independent has asked ICE for comment.
Trump officials had insisted federal agents had no choice but to detain the five-year-old because his father “abandoned” him and ran away after federal agents attempted to arrest him when he returned home from Liam’s school pickup. Officials also said Liam’s mother “refused to take custody” of him.
DHS claimed federal agents “took care” of Liam by bringing him to McDonald’s for food and playing his favorite music to comfort him.
But neighbors and school officials accused federal agents of using Liam as “bait” to have the rest of the family open the door.
Onlookers said Liam’s mother, who was pregnant with her third child, was watching the interaction from her window, but Liam’s father yelled at her, “Don’t open the door!”
DHS officials vehemently denied that accusation.
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