5-year-old and father detained by ICE returned to Minnesota Sunday morning

5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father boarded a flight back to Minnesota on Sunday, nearly two weeks after being detained by ICE.

ABC News exclusively got Liam Conejo Ramos and his father boarding their flight from San Antonio to Minneapolis.

They are the first images and videos of the pair since U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas shared images of the father and son in the detention center last week.

“I’m happy to finally be going home,” Adrian Conejo Arias, the five-year-old’s dad, told ABC’s John Quinoñes. 

ABC News said the pair landed in Minneapolis on Sunday morning.

“The legal team representing Liam Conejo Ramos and his father are grateful for the Court’s thoughtful consideration of the merits in this matter and for acting swiftly to reach a decision,” Marc Prokosch a lawyer representing the duo said. “The team is now working closely with their clients and their family to ensure a safe and timely reunion. We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal.”

Prokosch added that out of respect for Adrian Conejo Arias and Liam Conejo Ramos’ privacy, no further statements or press events would be taking place at this time.

Their return to Minnesota comes almost two weeks after the pair were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) agents on January 20 in Columbia Heights.

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Liam was reportedly being returned from preschool by his father when ICE agents reprotedly took Adrian Conejo Arias into custody.

Accounts have differed on what exactly happened.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Conejo Arias ran away when ICE agents approached him on Tuesday, “abandoning his child.” The department added that agents attempted to place Liam with his mother but she “refused.”

That differs from Columbia Heights School Board Chair Mary Granlund’s account, who said she heard the commotion while going to pick up her child from school. Granlund said an adult inside the home pleaded, “I will take the child. I will take the child.”

Attorney Marc Prokosch, who is representing the father and son, has also pushed back against the claims from the DHS that Conejo Arias entered the country illegally.

According to Prokosch, Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, entered the country at the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry in 2024 and used the CBP One app to declare their intent to seek asylum in the United States and set an appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

“They did everything right when they came in,” attorney Marc Prokosch said during a news conference last week.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ruled on Saturday that the pair had to be released no later than February 3.