Little Liam

One moment among many, each heartbreaking

In our current news cycle, things move so fast. The news stories move so fast that I think it’s good to look back sometimes. Sometimes there are moments that are so important that they need to be observed through a mature parent’s perspective.

When I was able to even consider doing a story on little Liam Conejo Ramos, who was abducted by ICE along with his father, I am sure there was another moment in the news that pulled my attention away.

Liam was used as bait to bring out his father, who is legally here on a pending asylum application from Ecuador.

Liam was walking home from school when ICE agents approached him in the driveway of his home. According to reports, the agents used this innocent child as “bait” to draw his parents out of the house.

To use someone's own flesh and blood to lure his parents outside is a disgusting and ruthless thing to do. Not only is it cruel, but to use someone's innocence to draw out this little boy's parent’s will echo in poor Liam's life for the rest of his days.

He is five years old, and at that age his mind is a sponge. He will remember this for his entire life. It will saddle him with guilt that was completely unnecessary.

My 17-year-old remembers events from when she was five. I know every parent makes mistakes, and I know I have made my fair share. All three of them, at an inopportune moment, are sure to bring up some mistake I have made.

My 17-year-old still feels guilty for small missteps in her past. None of my mistakes were even remotely world-shaping like what little Liam went through.

He carries with him the seed that could set his life on a terrible track. None of it was deserved. At the age of five, making that distinction and recognizing the nuance of the situation may one day be very difficult for him to come to grips with.

I think about that heartbreaking picture of Liam standing next to those thugs. I think about his confusion. I see my own children in that innocent, confused look.

My eight-year-old has a Spiderman backpack, and I think about how she would feel in that moment.

I think about the cold metal of handcuffs on my wrists as my own child blames herself for letting it happen.

Then they sit for hours in the back of a car and then onto a plane that takes them thousands of miles away from their home in Minnesota to Texas. Only to sit for weeks in a detention center.

Ultimately they were released, but the mental damage had already been done. In addition, this damage doesn’t just hurt Liam but extends to his father and the rest of his family.

Here is Judge Biery’s stinging rebuke to DT's regime. It's pretty good if you have time to read it.

Click here.

If you have an empathetic bone in your body, it probably extends to you as well. What happened to that boy, in addition to thousands of others, is the clear definition of state-sanctioned terrorism.

That's because it makes you ask, “What if that happened to me and/or my child?”

It's the very thing that I am exploring in this article. What I conclude from this is that this is the regime’s intent.

It's meant to send a message to people to give up in advance. This is directly from the fascist playbook.

But lately I have noticed a shift. The narrative is changing. People are becoming more and more bold.

The crowds that are protesting are continuing to swell. We are getting louder as DT's presidency continues to become quieter.

The strike on Iran is the sign that he is desperately trying to distract us. So we have to remain laser focused and continue to call out all of this ruthless, awful activity that has been perpetrated by these fascist thugs.

I am using Liam's story as a motivation to continue to fight for what is right.

Liam's story is only one of thousands, and each and every one of these illegal activities must be accounted for. This outrage will never stop until these criminals are brought to justice.

We are winning despite all the lies DT spews from his ugly face.

Keep up the fight. We are winning despite the awful things they are doing. The dam will break; it's only a matter of time.

I love you guys.

Erik

(Liberaldad)