Letter to the editor: DHS broke the law, not the Ramoses

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 04.09.26

In his April 2 letter, Larry Demanovich called progressives “deranged,” even as he accused Democrats of “divisive hyperbole.” In his March 5 letter, he called my Feb. 19 letter “preposterous,” claiming the Ramoses are “illegal immigrants who are in our country illegally.”

I wrote about 5-year-old Liam Ramos. The photo of Liam in his bunny hat — staring at an ICE van, terrified, surrounded by armed, masked men — shocked Americans across the country.

ICE held Liam for 10 days before a federal judge ordered DHS to release him on Jan. 31 and condemned the agency for “traumatizing children” in its “ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented pursuit of daily deportation quotas.” Judge Fred Biery wrote, “For some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned.” He included the photo of Liam and cited John 11:35 — “Jesus wept.”

The Ramoses say they requested asylum in 2024 using the CBP One app and scheduled a legal entry appointment. Demanovich repeated DHS’s claim that it has no record of them using the app.

But that misses the point. Whatever method the Ramoses used, DHS does not dispute that they legally applied for asylum. Their case has been pending since Dec. 17, 2024, — more than a year before Liam was taken into custody. CBS News confirmed this by reviewing Justice Department records in its Jan. 24, 2026 report, “5-year-old taken into custody by ICE has active immigration case.”

DHS acknowledged as much when it moved to dismiss the Ramoses’ asylum case — which remains pending.

Federal regulation 8 C.F.R. § 1.3 defines asylum applicants like the Ramoses as “lawfully present.” By contrast, Judge Biery ruled that DHS detained them unlawfully — in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

It is not “deranged,” “divisive,” or “preposterous” to demand that our government obey the Constitution.

Vince Amoroso

Sunset Beach