Local media in Minnesota reported Wednesday that an immigration judge ended the asylum claims of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his family, ordering their removal from the US.

The Columbia Heights Public School District, where the boy attended school, lamented the decision, stating:

The announcement…is heartbreaking. We understand that this decision will be appealed and remain hopeful for a positive outcome. The detention in January of Liam and his father shed light on the harm caused by Operation Metro Surge, during which many children and families have been detained.

Liam and his father made headlines when they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in January during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge, which has reportedly ended. While the Department of Homeland Security claimed that his father “abandoned” Liam, and that ICE merely ensured his safety, school officials said the boy was used by agents as a pretext to gain access to the family’s home.

The family includes Liam, his 13-year-old brother, his father Adrian Conejo Arias, and mother Erika Ramos, who is pregnant with the couple’s third child.

Last month, a federal district judge ordered Ramos and his father to be released from ICE custody. Judge Fred Biery  granted a writ of habeas corpus and took the opinion as an opportunity to give a “civics lesson to the government,” stating:

Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer.

Administrative warrants employed by ICE have been the topic of much controversy. Many have argued that ICE polices that allow such warrants to be signed and executed by supervising officers, without judicial approval, violate the Fourth Amendment, which generally requires warrants to be issued by a neutral and detached magistrate.

A Ramos family attorney said they plan on appealing to the Board of Immigration Appeals—a process that could last years. The family may remain in the US while the appeal is adjudicated.