JD Vance Responds to Those Who Defend 5-Year-Old Liam Conejo Ramos From Detention: 'You're Advocating for an Open Border'

The image of a 5-year-old child in a Spider-Man backpack, flanked by federal agents, has become the flashpoint for a searing national debate on the ethics of immigration enforcement. The sight of Liam Conejo Ramos being detained sparked broader concerns about immigration enforcement involving children.

While advocates decry the psychological toll on minors, the Trump administration has remained steadfast, framing the incident not as a lapse in compassion but as a necessary byproduct of upholding the rule of law. Vice President JD Vance doubled down on the administration's stance on this matter.

Vance Dismisses Criticism

Vance has firmly defended the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers following the controversial detention of Liam Conejo Ramos, 5. Responding to criticism from Democratic lawmakers, including Rhode Island Representative Seth Magaziner, Vance suggested that those opposing such enforcement measures are essentially calling for the dissolution of national boundaries.

Vance acknowledged that such encounters are traumatic for the children, yet he insisted that being a parent does not grant individuals immunity from law enforcement. He accused critics of using the child's situation to push a political agenda and accused them of supporting the call for an open border.

'If your position is that a person can claim asylum after traversing eight countries, and they are therefore "legal immigrants" because the president ignores the law and allows them to stay, then you're advocating for an open border', he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), according to the Irish Star.

The Driveway Detention

The controversy began on 20 January 2026, when Liam and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were intercepted by ICE agents in their driveway in Columbia Heights. The pair was returning home from Liam's preschool when agents surrounded their vehicle to execute a targeted arrest of the father, an Ecuadorian national.

School officials and neighbours have levelled serious allegations against the agents, claiming they used the child as 'bait' by directing him to knock on the door of his home to lure his mother outside. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has vehemently denied this, calling the description a lie. The ICE agents claimed Liam was 'abandoned' by 'a criminal illegal alien', so the federal agents rushed to the child to keep him 'safe'.

'What are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let the 5-year-old freeze to death?' Vance said defending the federal agents' action during a press conference in Minneapolis, the BBC reported.

Despite having a pending asylum claim, both Liam and his father were transported from Minnesota to the Dilley detention facility in Texas. The family's lawyer maintained that they had followed all legal protocols since entering the country in 2024 and posed no flight risk to the community.

Federal Judge Orders Release

On Saturday, US District Judge Fred Biery ordered the release of Liam and his father by Tuesday, 3 February. The father and son have been detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, since their encounter with the federal agents on 20 January.

'Observing human behaviour confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency,' Biery wrote in the court order, NBC News reported. 'And the rule of law be damned.'

The legal team that represented Liam and his father was grateful for the decision. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has not issued a statement about the court order.