Adrian Conejo Arias, the father of the 5-year-old boy detained in Minnesota, says claims by the Department of Homeland Security that he abandoned his son are not true.
Conejo Arias and his son, Liam, returned home Sunday after being detained by U.S. immigration officers and held at a detention facility in Texas.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Conejo Arias "fled on foot — abandoning his child" when officers approached him and that he and his son were taken to the detention center together because there was no one else available to care for the child.
Conejo Arias told ABC News he was walking a few feet ahead of Liam trying to alert people who would come out and help them.
"I love my son too much," he told the news outlet. "I would never abandon him."
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in a ruling on Saturday ordered the release of Conejo Arias and his son, saying the case had "its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children."
Biery, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, cited the Constitution's requirement that an arrest warrant must be based on a judge finding probable cause of a crime.
The use of "administrative warrants" issued by immigration officials "is called the fox guarding the henhouse," he wrote.
Democrats have called for reforms after large-scale enforcement operations in Minnesota and other states and following two deadly shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis involving ICE agents.
Lawmakers' demands include mandatory body cameras, the end to roving patrols, and halting the use of face masks.
Conejo Arias told ABC News that it's "unjust that they arrest people who only come to this country to work hard and get their families ahead."
He also said Liam became sick while in the detention facility and was denied medication.
The pair had entered the U.S. legally as asylum applicants.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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