After Liam Ramos' release, Dems turn focus to other ICE-detained kids

• There's no direct data publicly available on the number of children in immigration custody, but nonprofit news outlet the Marshall Project's analysis in December found at least 3,800 children under age 18 had been detained in 2025 after President Trump took office for a second time.
• Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios Sunday the Trump administration "is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system, and will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country."

Driving the news: Castro said on Bluesky he picked Liam and his father, Adrian Ramos, up from a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, on Saturday night and escorted them back to Minnesota Sunday morning.

• He had called for the release of the 5-year-old and other detained kids and vowed Sunday he "won't stop until all children and families are home."

Zoom in: Minnesota Tim Walz (D) said on Bluesky it shouldn't take a court order to get a child "out of prison."

• Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Bluesky quoted from U.S. District Judge Fred Biery's order in the Ramos case: "Apparent also is the government's ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence."

Of note: Rep. Kelly Morrison (D-Minn.) said in a YouTube video Sunday she had visited the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis a day earlier and found there was "no specific medical policy and no real medical care," and that no nurse was present during her visit.

• "There are no beds, no real blankets, minimal food, extremely cold temperatures. People are in locked cells and leg shackles," she said.
• "Everything I saw showed me this operation is chaotic, disorganized, ineffective and dangerous," Morrison alleged.
• "I was also able to speak with two of the women who were being held there, and both of them shared harrowing experiences," she said.
• "Families are being ripped apart. People aren't being treated with the dignity that every human being deserves. ICE is not going after the worst of the worst, this reckless operation is tearing communities apart and traumatizing our neighbors," Morrison added.
• "My visit only underscored how urgently critical it is that members of Congress are able to conduct their legal right and duty to perform oversight unannounced, without advance notice, as the law requires and it is needed to protect our constituents during this time of extreme crisis."

Between the lines: ICE routinely detains children whose parents are arrested and targeted for deportation and creating detention space for families before they're deported has been a priority of the second Trump administration, Axios' Brittany Gibson notes.

The other side: DHS maintains Liam Ramos' mother "refused to accept custody of the child" and that Ramos' father wanted the boy to stay with him, per McLaughlin's emailed statement.

• Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to reunite children with their families," McLaughlin said.
• "Adults with children are housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security, and medical needs," she said.
• "ICE does not separate families or deport U.S. citizens. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or if they would like ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates."

Zoom out: Democrats have been pushing since last month's fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti for a reform of ICE in legislation that would keep DHS funded — though House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is confident the House will end the partial government shutdown by Tuesday.

Go deeper: ICE's detention of child puts new focus on Trump team's tactics

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin.