Democrats visit 5-year-old who was detained in Minneapolis, in a case that stirred anger over ICE

DILLEY, Texas (AP) — Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett on Wednesday visited a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father at a Texas federal detention center, in a case that has stirred anger over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and given fuel to Democrats and others who are pushing back against ICE's actions.

Castro said the lawmakers met with Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, for about 30 minutes in a courtroom inside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, near San Antonio. Outside the facility, Texas state police officers confronted protesters who demonstrated in support of the detainees inside.

Liam’s father said the boy has been sleeping a lot, asking about his mom and his classmates and said he wants to go back to school, Castro said.

“I would ask President Trump, who himself has grandkids who are of the age of some of the kids we met with today, to think of what it would be like for his grandkids to be behind bars,” Castro said during a news conference later Wednesday, where he and other Democrats called for Liam and other detainees to be released.

The meeting was part of Democrats’ midterm-election-year effort to conduct congressional oversight and highlight the consequences of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota and elsewhere.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took Liam and his father into custody on Jan. 20 in Minneapolis as part of a sweeping operation that has wrenched the city and spawned massive protests from residents. Two U.S. citizens have been shot and killed by federal officers during the operation.

A photo of the boy, wearing a blue winter hat and a Spider-Man backpack as he was detained, has circulated widely and drawn strong reactions. Castro described the child as “emblematic of the monstrosity of the ICE system and the detention system.”

Neighbors and school officials say that federal immigration officers used the preschooler as “bait” by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an “abject lie.” It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.

A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary order prohibiting the Trump administration from removing Ramos and Arias from the U.S. as their detention is challenged.

Crockett, who is seeking her party's nomination for U.S. Senate, said Wednesday that Liam was one of many children the lawmakers met at the facility, and that the kids said they're not getting an education. Crockett said lawmakers were told that detainees could not be there if they had a criminal record.

“We are supposed to be better than this,” she said.

Outside the detention center on Wednesday, Texas state police deployed chemical irritants toward protesters, who had gathered in support of the detainees being held at the facility. Some in the large group banged drums, chanted and carried signs that included “Children are not criminals!”

As protesters moved closer to the facility, Texas state police officers arrived on a school bus and shouted instructions for the crowd to move back. Some officers then deployed pepper balls, dispersing the crowd.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement that officers arrested two people and used pepper balls after protesters did not heed orders to disperse, adding that demonstrators also breached a protest area and spit on officers.

Castro, a prominent member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a recent video of running a “lawless” immigration enforcement operation that is effectively a “bounty hunter organization.”

Like Castro, Crockett and her Senate Democratic primary rival, state Rep. James Talarico, are among the Democrats calling for Noem’s impeachment. Crockett also voted against a pending appropriations bill that would fund Noem’s department and the immigration enforcement agencies that fall under it.

The Republican-controlled House passed the DHS funding bill with the help of a handful of Democrats, days before 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed. Several Senate Democrats said after Pretti’s death that they would not approve DHS funding, even if it means a partial government shutdown starting this weekend.

Democrats have criticized the Trump administration over their lack of access to ICE facilities.

Minnesota Reps. Angie Craig, Kelly Morrison and Ilhan Omar were denied access to detainees at a federal building outside Minneapolis on Jan. 10. The Department of Homeland Security has said the three Democrats did not comply with a new policy to give facilities seven days’ notice.

The same policy was invoked to deny Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, from entering the Dilley facility and another in Pearsall, Texas, last week. Murphy said the denials keep Congress from fulfilling its constitutional and statutory responsibility to conduct oversight of executive branch facilities.

A federal judge declined to intervene earlier this month, refusing to force the administration to comply with lawmakers’ demands for improved access.

Castro said detainees in Dilley were allowed by the administration — or its private contractor running the facility — to sign up to meet him and Crockett.

After the visit, Castro posted a picture on social media of the meeting. In it, Liam is seen in his father's arms, with his eyes closed.

“I demanded his release and told him how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him,” Castro posted on social media.

Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporter Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

Protesters yell at a Texas state trooper outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A canister of pepper spray launched by Texas troopers flies towards protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protesters gather outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Pepper spray is used by Texas troopers to disperse protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas state troopers wearing riot gear arrive to help disperse protesters gathered outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A protester reacts to the effects of pepper spray launched by Texas troopers to disperse protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Pepper spray is dispersed towards protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Pepper spray is dispersed towards protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protesters gather outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protesters are pushed back as they gather outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protesters gather outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protesters gather outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protesters gather outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed Friday to work together to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease global economic uncertainties caused by the war in the Middle East.

Their summit in Seoul came as U.S. President Donald Trump slammed allies for not supporting the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. Macron was making his first visit to South Korea since taking office in 2017, as part of an Asian tour that already has taken him to Japan.

Macron told Lee at the start of the meeting that the two countries can play a role in helping to stabilize the situation in the Middle East, including Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which has unleashed shock on global energy markets.

At a joint televised briefing afterward, Macron underscored the need for France and South Korea to cooperate to help reopen the strait and deescalate Middle East animosities, while Lee said the two affirmed “their resolves to cooperate to secure the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The two leaders did not take questions and did not elaborate on how they would help reopen the strait — the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil usually passes.

“We need to clearly define, at the international level, the conditions for a process to ease the crisis and conflict in the Middle East,” Macron said. “We need to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.”

Lee said he and Macron agreed to expand cooperation in technology, energy and other areas. South Korean and French officials also signed agreements to cooperate on nuclear fuel supply chains, jointly invest in an offshore wind project in southern South Korea and to collaborate on critical minerals. South Korea has moved to increase output at its nuclear reactors to mitigate the energy crunch and Lee has also called for a faster transition to renewable energy, saying the war has exposed the country’s heavy reliance on fossil fuel imports.

Macron’s Asia trip comes as Trump has ramped up his frustration with allies. In a speech Wednesday, Trump said Americans “don’t need” the strait but the countries who do “must grab it and cherish it.”

In an earlier Easter event at the White House, Trump called for his allies in Asia and China to get involved in reopening the waterway.

“Let South Korea, you know, we only have 45,000 soldiers in harm’s way over there, right next to a nuclear force — let South Korea do it,” Trump said. “Let Japan do it. They get 90% of their oil from the strait. Let China do it.”

The United States stations about 28,000 troops in South Korea, not the 45,000 stated by Trump. The U.S. troops’ deployment in South Korea is meant to deter potential aggressions from North Korea.

Macron has said reopening the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation is unrealistic.

South Korean officials have said they are in contact with Washington on the issue and that Seoul isn’t considering paying Iran transit fees to secure fuel shipments through the strait.

French President Emmanuel Macron, front left, his wife Brigitte Macron, back center, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, front right, and his wife Kim Hea Kyung, right, attend the welcome ceremony at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je /Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, his wife Brigitte Macron, left, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, and his wife Kim Hea Kyung, second left, attend the welcome ceremony at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je /Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, second right, during their meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during their meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)