Who is Liam Tadeo? 5-year-old boy seen crying in viral Texas ICE video deported to Mexico with his father
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported a five-year-old boy and his father to Mexico on Tuesday, August 25, after the father agreed to leave the US instead of remaining in custody with his son at the Dilley Immigration Detention Center in Texasthe family’s attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch told Scripps News. Liam Tadeo’s father, Victor Martinez Nieto, urged ICE officers during a traffic stop earlier this month in Austin, Texas, to release his son to his mother.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, parents arrested by ICE can bring their children with them to detention or leave them with “a safe person the parent designates.” However, Lincoln-Goldfinch claimed that the option was not given to Nieto.
“The claim that ‘parents have a choice’ between remaining detained with their children and having ICE place their children with a ‘safe person’ is deeply misleading, particularly in this case,” she said. “Liam’s father begged ICE to release his five-year-old son to his mother—the same release granted to his three-year-old cousin and his uncle on the side of the road. ICE refused.”
Who is Liam Tadeo?
Not much has been revealed about Liam, except that he was due to start kindergarten when his father was detained, per The Independent.
Video that surfaced on social media earlier showed Liam in tears while being detained on August 16. His father was seen beside him, in handcuffs. Family members said that they were on their way to a soccer game.
Nieto illegally entered the United States in 2022, according to the Department of Homeland Security. After ICE arrested him in November 2025, he accepted voluntary departure and was removed from the country” in February, a spokesperson told The Independent.
“Martinez Nieto illegally reentered the country at an unknown time and place after being removed,” the person added. “Martinez Nieto and his son will remain together in ICE custody pending removal.”
Liam’s mother previously issued a statement calling for the release of her son and his father.
“He was supposed to start kindergarten this week, and instead he is being held in an immigration detention center,” she said. “He should be in school, playing soccer and at home with his family. I am asking ICE to release Liam and his father immediately so that our family can be together again.”
