Activists demand justice for families harmed by ICE
Outside the Minnesota Capitol on Saturday, there was chanting and passion in a symbol known worldwide.
"We feel safer knowing there are so many people helping us," said Adrian Conejo Arias, the father of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos in an interview translated from Spanish.
The two were detained by ICE in January. Months later, a group organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee gathered on their behalf.
"For the hat he was wearing the day we were detained, we feel happy it's become a symbol. A symbol of resistance," said Conejo Arias.
The Department of Homeland Security first said Conejo Arias was in the U.S. illegally, but the family entered the country in 2024 under federal approval as asylum-seekers. In February, a judge blocked their deportation and they returned to Minnesota.
"We're living day by day. We don't like to dwell on what might happen in the future because it's uncertain," said Conejo Arias.
In early April, the Justice Department filed a notice of appeal challenging the judge's rule that freed the duo. Now, the group on the capitol grounds want the governor to issue an order making Minnesota a sanctuary state. Right now, it's a sanctuary jurisdiction due to local policies in place.
"The symbol represents all migrants being backed," Conejo Arias told WCCO. "Let us hope that no child ever again has to go through what my son Liam went through and what our family has endured."
