5-year-old Liam Ramos being detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 20. Credit: Columbia Heights Public Schools

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery on Saturday morning issued a ruling demanding the release of 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy Liam Conejo Ramos and his father by Tuesday from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, the Express-News reports.

Biery’s ruling said the case against Ramos and his father “has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children,” reports the daily.

The detention of Ramos has sparked outcry and protests nationwide, including a demonstration where Texas DPS troopers teargassed demonstrators outside the detention center on Wednesday, after the boy was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis early last week.

Attorneys representing the Ramos family maintain that they are in the U.S. legally as part of an asylum claim. However, federal officials argue that the family’s immigration parole expired in April.

U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, visited with Ramos and his father in Dilley on Wednesday. Castro told reporters after the visit that Liam looked tired and that other detainees appeared to be experiencing a decline in mental health.

“Judge Biery ordered ICE to release Liam. I’ve reached out to Liam’s mom and lawyers to let them know I will continue to do everything I can to make sure he is safe,” Castro said in a statement emailed to the Current. “Thank you to folks all across the country and around the world for speaking out in support of Liam and so many other children in detention.”

This is a developing story.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...