Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro has provided a troubling update regarding five-year-old Liam Adrian Conejo Ramos and the approximately 1,100 individuals at the same detention center.
Liam Ramos and his father were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on January 20 after returning home from preschool.
They have since been held at the Dilley ICE detention center in Texas. Congressman Joaquin Castro has visited the facility and shared his observations.
Castro took to Twitter after visiting the center, where he met Liam, his father Adrian Conejo Arias, and many other detainees. He pointed out that there are ‘countless more children and families who have done nothing wrong and should not be detained’.
In a video message, Castro stated that he spent about 30 minutes with Liam and his father and aimed to update those concerned about him, including teachers, classmates, family, his legal team, and his mother.
However, Castro had to inform the family about the father’s report that Liam ‘hasn’t been himself’.
While assuring that Liam was not in any immediate physical danger, Castro revealed that the child has been ‘sleeping a lot because he’s been depressed and sad’, to the extent that Liam ‘wasn’t awake’ during Castro’s visit.
The five-year-old reportedly asked his father a distressing question.
Castro conveyed to Liam’s father how much his classmates ‘miss him’ and how they have ‘kept his space and his desk for him and they’re waiting for him to get back’.
According to Liam’s father, the preschooler is eager to return to school and reunite with his family and community.
Castro added, “Liam said that he misses his classmates and his family and wants to be back at school.”
Liam has also been curious about ‘that hat and that backpack’ he had on when ICE agents detained him and his father.
The congressman is ‘concerned about his mental state’.
Liam is one among many children at the center. Castro spoke with several parents who reported their children experiencing profound depression and anxiety, as well as weight loss due to poor nutrition and their psychological state.
Castro stated, “With Liam, I very bluntly told the ICE officials there […] that the country is against what’s going on, that Liam needs to be released, that the country demands his release and that no child that’s five years old should be in detention like that.”
He argued that Liam’s family entered the U.S. legally and followed the appropriate procedures, only to have the ‘rug pulled from out’ from under them by the current administration.
Commenting on the detention center, Castro said, “There isn’t a single criminal over there. Because if you commit a crime, they separate you from your daughter or child.”
Reflecting on the 1,100 detainees, described as ‘hard-working people, mothers, fathers, and laborers,’ Castro mentioned that there are children as young as two months old.
He plans to check on Liam again, along with the many other children and families detained there.
“Liam did not look well. My staff and I are very concerned about him,” he added.
He concluded, “I demanded his release and told him how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him.
“[…] I ask my colleagues in Congress — House and Senate — to join me. I ask the American people to continue speaking up. Your voice makes a difference. #FreeLiam.”