TEXAS — The Justice Department on Wednesday filed a notice of appeal in federal court in Texas, challenging a January ruling that freed five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, from an immigration detention facility. The appeal is before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The government is appealing a ruling by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery that ordered the release of the father and son after finding their constitutional rights had been violated during their detention. The government's appeal covers all opinions, rulings, findings, conclusions, judgments, and orders on which the grant of the petition is based. Biery's release order also provided that if the father and son were re-detained, they must receive a bond hearing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took Conejo Arias and his son into custody during a crackdown in the Minneapolis area earlier this year as part of an operation known as Operation Metro Surge. Airport surveillance video released in late March showed ICE officers escorting the five-year-old Minnesota resident and his father to a Delta flight from Minneapolis to Texas after their Jan. 20 detention. An image of the child standing outside his home wearing a blue bunny hat and a Spiderman backpack while surrounded by immigration agents circulated at the time.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that Conejo Arias fled on foot, abandoning his child, and that for the child's safety, one ICE officer remained with the child while other officers apprehended the father. According to McLaughlin, officers made multiple attempts to get the alleged mother who was inside the house to take custody of the child, but the alleged mother refused to accept custody. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him, according to the spokesperson. The father and son received full due process and were issued a final order of removal on Feb. 19, according to DHS. In March, an immigration judge denied the family's asylum claim, making them eligible for deportation.

A DHS spokesperson said: "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 illegal aliens who have no right to be in this country."

Conejo Arias, speaking through his attorney Danielle Molliver, said: "The first time they came for us it was unjust. The second time they came for us is unjust. We are not giving into their fear." He added: "Thank you to all those who continue to support and love us."

At Valley View Elementary in a Minneapolis suburb, 24 families had children or parents detained at the time of the detention. Valley View Elementary Principal Jason Kuhlman said: "His friends notice that he's not here. Then when it hit the media, they start seeing his face on TV." Kuhlman added: "It's like, how do you explain that? When you start missing someone out of your classroom. How do you have that conversation with a 5-year-old?"

A spokesperson for the Columbia Heights School District said the five-year-old was back in the classroom and that his family wanted to make sure he was not singled out over other students as he readapted.