A five-year-old boy was on his way to a soccer game when federal immigration agents detained him and his father, who are now being held in a notorious Texas detention center that local officials and members of Congress are demanding be shut down.

Liam Tadeo was due to start kindergarten this week when his father was put in handcuffs after a traffic stop in Austin, Texas, on August 16, according to video of the arrest and statements from family members. Footage shows federal agents walking his father in handcuffs while Liam, in tears, holds his father’s hand.

Democratic Rep. Greg Casar compared the scene to a similar incident in Minneapolis earlier this year, where another five-year-old boy named Liam was pictured crying while wearing a blue bunny-ear hat and a Spider-Man backpack as his father was hauled away by federal agents.

“Liam should be starting kindergarten this week, but instead he’s sitting in a trailer prison right now in Dilley, Texas,” Casar said in a video message Thursday pleading for his “immediate” release and the closure of the South Texas Family Residential Center. “Kids should be playing soccer, going to school, not being arrested on the streets.”

Their detention follows a spike in Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests this summer even as the agency comes under intense scrutiny after the recent killings of two people within six days. More than 43,000 people were arrested in July, a record high under the Trump administration, according to ICE.

The Dilley compound first opened during Barack Obama’s administration to support the wave of families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, though Joe Biden’s administration stopped holding families at the facility in 2021.

The Trump administration reopened the facility as law enforcement agencies began pursuing immigrants with families who have spent years living in the country’s interior.

Liam Conejo Ramos was detained at Dilley with his father in January after their arrest in suburban Minneapolis, an incident captured in a now-viral image of the preschooler standing in his frozen driveway. Liam grew ill and became lethargic while in custody, according to his father and members of Congress who visited the family.

Liam’s father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who is originally from Ecuador, entered the U.S. legally and applied for asylum upon arrival in 2024, according to a family attorney. A federal judge blocked their removal and ordered their release from custody while they fight to stay in the country.

Both children are among hundreds to have been held inside the facility over the last year, often far beyond court-mandated limits on how long children can be detained, according to court filings.

Emergency crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least a dozen times after staff dialed 911 to report children with severe fever, broken bones, respiratory distress, seizures, plunging oxygen levels and other medical emergencies, including a pregnant woman who passed out, according to call logs.

Liam Tadeo “loves his cowboy hat, boots and Spider-Man cologne,” according to journalist Lidia Terrazas, who first reported the incident. “He has two pets, a fish and a chicken,” whose name is Regalo, a gift from his aunt, she reported.

Speaking in Spanish to Univision, Liam Tadeo’s mother, whose name was not published, said she felt “helpless” watching footage of her son.

“My child just wanted to go out to distract himself. He told me: ‘Mom, aren’t you going with me?’ And I told him: ‘No, my love, go with dad, I’ll wait for you here,’” she told the outlet. “And I didn’t even say goodbye.”

The detention of Liam Tadeo and his father is “cruel; they are not criminals — they were simply on their way to a soccer match,” Liam’s aunt Patricia Resendiz wrote on GoFundMe, where the family is raising money for a legal defense.

“Liam is a beautiful, intelligent, and big-hearted little boy,” she said. “My sister is devastated, and so are we. Liam was detained right in front of my son, his cousin. My son told me that the ICE agents said to Liam, ‘You can’t escape.’”

The Independent has requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security.