5-year-old Minnesota boy fell ill at ICE's Dilley family detention center, school says

A 5-year-old Minnesota boy who was detained by ICE alongside his father earlier this month has fallen ill at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, the superintendent of his school district told Huffington Post. Zena Stenvik, superintendent for Columbia Heights Public Schools, said she spoke with the boy’s mother, Erika Ramos, on Jan.

27 and was told, “Unfortunately, Liam’s health is not doing great right now. He’s been ill. I’ve been told he has a fever. So I’m very, very concerned about his well-being in that facility.” Ramos told Minnesota Public Radio that her husband, Adrian Conejo Arias, and their son were still being held and described Liam’s symptoms as stomach pain, vomiting, a fever and a refusal to eat, adding she believes the food quality is to blame.

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro visited Liam and his father at the Dilley center on Jan. 28 and posted a photo of the pair. Castro said he spent about 30 minutes with them and that Liam was asleep; he said it was not an immediate physical emergency but quoted the father saying the boy had been “sleeping a lot because he’s been depressed and sad.” Castro also said Liam had been asking about a knitted blue hat and Spider-Man backpack shown in earlier images and that he thinks those items were taken from him.

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