Judge blocks deportation of 5-year-old detained in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (NYT) — A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the deportation of a 5-year-old boy and his father who were arrested in a Minneapolis suburb in an operation that further stirred the outrage over the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
The boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were arrested last week in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, shortly after the father had picked the boy up from school, according to school district officials. They were quickly taken to an immigration detention center outside San Antonio, where they remain.
In his order, Judge Fred Biery of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas told the federal government that it could not move the boy or his father out of his court’s jurisdiction while they challenged their detention.
The detention of the boy and his father by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents became a flashpoint in the Twin Cities, where anger has continued to grow over the surge of federal agents in the region. The image of Liam, wearing a Spider-Man backpack and a large winter hat as he was detained by federal agents, quickly became emblematic of the harsh effects of the government’s tactics in Minnesota.
Exactly what happened during the arrest remains in dispute.
Officials with the Columbia Heights Public School District, where Liam is a prekindergarten student, accused the federal government of using the boy as bait at his home to try to lure other family members out of the house. They said he was one of four students in the district who had recently been detained by immigration authorities.
The order from Biery, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, was brief and did not delve into the details of the case.
“Children ask, ‘Can they take us?’ We don’t know what to tell them,” said Peg Nelson, a teacher in Columbia Heights. “Every day we wonder: How long is this sustainable?”
Trump says value of the dollar is ‘great’, as currency hits 4-year low
(Reuters) — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the value of the dollar was “great,” when asked whether he thought it had declined too much, adding to pressure on the greenback which hit a four-year low. The dollar’s recent weakness stems from multiple factors: expectations of continued Federal Reserve rate cuts, tariff uncertainty, policy volatility including threats to Fed independence and rising fiscal deficits, all of which have eroded investor confidence in U.S. economic stability. A lower dollar can also benefit U.S. exporters, though Trump said he was not seeking for its value to decline further. “I would want it to… just seek its own level,” he said. Trump made the comments to reporters in Iowa ahead of a speech expected to center on the economy as he seeks to rally his stalwart rural supporters in a state that hosts key congressional races in November.
“No, I think it’s great, the value of the dollar … dollar’s doing great,” Trump said when asked by a reporter if he thought the value of the dollar had declined too much. Losses in the dollar index, which measures its strength against a basket of six major currencies, accelerated after Trump’s comments, hitting a session low of 95.566 and the lowest since February 2022.