Video shows Minnesota dad and 5-year-old flown on Delta to ICE detention in Texas

Key Takeaways

• Airport surveillance video shows Adrian Conejo Arias and his 5-year-old son, Liam Conejo Ramos, escorted onto a Delta Air Lines commercial flight from Minneapolis to San Antonio after being detained by ICE.
• The pair were taken into custody Jan. 20, flown the next day, later released on a judge’s order, and then had their asylum claim denied; the family’s lawyer says they are appealing.
• It has been reported that federal agents sometimes use commercial flights — not only ICE charter planes — to transfer detainees, a practice human rights monitors say is harder to track.
• ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) primarily uses chartered flights through contractors such as CSI Aviation, but commercial transfers raise questions about oversight, notice to carriers, and access to legal counsel.
• For asylum seekers and advocates, commercial transfers can limit public scrutiny and complicate efforts to monitor detention and deportation routes.

What the video shows

Airport surveillance footage obtained through public-records requests shows the father carrying his son’s Spider-Man backpack while a woman presents boarding passes to an airline agent; two other plainclothes escorts follow them onto the jetway. The recordings, from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, depict the family appearing calm and not in visible restraints as they board a Delta Air Lines flight bound for Texas. The father, Adrian Conejo Arias, was reportedly seeking asylum from Ecuador; his son, Liam, became a visible symbol in the local controversy after being detained wearing a bunny hat.

Policy and oversight implications

ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) operates ICE Air Operations and largely moves migrants on charter flights arranged through broker CSI Aviation and subcontracted carriers. Human Rights First documented 1,630 immigration enforcement flights in February alone — an average of 42 per day — and says transfers are rapidly expanding. It has been reported that using regular commercial flights provides a different, harder-to-document route for transfers because passengers and monitors in airport terminals may not recognize that an escorted person is effectively in custody. Delta told reporters that most government travel is booked through third-party agencies and that airlines often receive no advance notice about who is traveling or why; DHS did not immediately comment.

Human impact and what this means now

For people navigating immigration proceedings, the practical consequences are immediate. Transfers on commercial flights can limit public and attorney visibility, make timely legal access harder, and increase the difficulty of tracking detainee movements — all of which matter for preparing asylum claims and meeting court deadlines. In this case, the family was released on a judge’s orders after being flown to Texas but later faced an adverse asylum decision that is now under appeal. Advocates say more transparent notification and clearer custody protocols are needed so lawyers, family members and civil society can monitor transfers and protect due process rights.

Source: Original Article