A FIVE-year-old boy and his father must be released by tomorrow from the Texas immigration detention centre where they’ve been held after being seized by immigration officers in Minnesota, a federal judge ordered at the weekend.

Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, being surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers added to outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

US District Judge Fred Biery said in his ruling that “the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatising children.”

Mr Biery had previously ruled that the boy and his father could not be removed from the US, at least for now.

Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who is originally from Ecuador, were snatched in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights on January 20 and taken to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas.

Neighbours and school officials say that Ice officers used the child as “bait,” telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer.

The Department of Homeland Security denies this and claims the father fled on foot, leaving the boy in a car in their driveway with the engine running.

The government says Mr Arias entered the US irregularly from Ecuador in December 2024, but the family’s lawyer says he has a pending asylum claim that allows him to remain in the country.

Their detention led to a protest at the Texas family detention centre and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress.

In his order on Saturday, Mr Biery said that “apparent also is the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence,” suggesting the Trump administration’s actions echo those that future president Thomas Jefferson described as grievances against Britain’s King George III.

Jefferson wrote: “He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People” and “He has excited domestic insurrection among us.”

Mr Biery included in his ruling a photo of Liam and references to two lines in the Bible: “Jesus said: ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’,” and “Jesus wept.”

The Law Firm of Jennifer Scarborough, which is representing the boy and his family, said in a statement that it was working “to ensure a safe and timely reunion.”

It added: “We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal.”

During Wednesday’s visit by Texas Representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, the boy slept in the arms of his father, who said Liam was frequently tired and not eating well in the detention facility, according to Mr Castro.

Detained families report poor conditions such as worms in food, fighting for clean water and poor medical care at the centre since its reopening last year.

In December, a report filed by Ice acknowledged that it had held about 400 children for longer than the recommended limit of 20 days.