A six-year-old deaf boy has been deported from the United States alongside his family members, with his lawyer alleging that the Department of Homeland Security refused to allow him access to his hearing aid prior to departure. The child, his younger brother, and their mother, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, were detained earlier this week during a routine check-in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in San Francisco.
Family Detained and Deported
The family, who are asylum seekers from Colombia, had been residing in Hayward, California, for approximately five years. Their attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker of Centro Legal de la Raza, reported that he was provided with misleading information and struggled to locate the family for two days before discovering they were held at a detention center in Arizona. They have since been deported back to Colombia.
Legal Rights and Due Process Concerns
De Bremaeker asserted that Gutierrez, who works in childcare, had a removal order but no criminal record, which he argues entitled her to notification before deportation. At a news conference, the attorney detailed that while the mother and her two sons were at the ICE facility in San Francisco, a relative attempted to deliver the six-year-old's hearing aid, which he relies on for communication, but was turned away by officials.
"This child has been dragged from detention center to detention center, to places that are not meant for children," De Bremaeker stated, according to The Los Angeles Times. "They are definitely not built for children with severe disabilities. It's inhuman, illegal, and unconstitutional."
Community and Official Reactions
The six-year-old boy had attended the California School for the Deaf at Fremont for three years, as confirmed by Tony Thurmond, California Superintendent of Public Instruction. Thurmond expressed being "deeply disturbed" that the boy was deported without access to his necessary medical devices and demanded his return to California.
"This unnecessary cruelty must end," Thurmond declared. "No child should be ripped from their home community and hidden in a detention center, especially not a deaf child who is being deprived of the ability to communicate and understand what is happening to him. I am calling on the federal government to return our student to his school community now."
Trauma and Aftermath
De Bremaeker revealed that he spoke with Gutierrez on Friday, noting that she and her children were traumatized by the entire ordeal. The Independent has reached out to the attorney for further updates on the situation.
DHS Statement and Defense
In a statement provided to The Independent, a DHS spokesperson denied that Gutierrez was denied due process. "She received full due process and was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on November 25, 2024," the statement read.
The spokesperson emphasized that ICE does not separate families, explaining that parents are given a choice to be removed with their children or place them with a designated safe person. "Gutierrez chose to be removed with her children, and they returned to their home on March 5," the statement added.
Furthermore, the spokesperson commented on detention and illegal status, stating, "Being in detention and in the country illegally is a choice. Parents can avoid detention and receive a free flight and $2,600 with the CBP Home app. By using the CBP Home app illegal aliens reserve the chance to come back the right legal way and live the American dream."
