Deported deaf boy, 6, could die in Colombia without medical attention

A 6-year-old deaf boy kidnapped by Northern California immigration agents and deported to Colombia this month must be returned to the United States immediately or he could die, an attorney representing the child said Wednesday.

Lawyer Nikolas De Bremaeker said the boy, Joseph Lodano Rodriguez, was “at risk every day if he did not receive his treatment.” The child has a cochlear implant that requires the same routine maintenance and cleaning that he received in the United States, but which he could not obtain in Colombia.

“Joseph is at immense risk to his life if he does not continue the treatment he is receiving in the United States,” De Bremaeker said during a virtual press conference hosted by California Supt. of Public Education Tony Thurmond, Democratic candidate for governor.

“He’s at risk of infection, he’s at risk of meningitis, he’s at risk of dying if he doesn’t get the proper care for his surgical implants. »

Joseph, his 28-year-old mother, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, and another 5-year-old son, were arrested by federal agents on March 3 while attending an immigration meeting and deported shortly after.

Rodriguez Gutierrez traveled to the United States in 2022 to seek asylum from domestic violence and lived in Hayward. She was told in the run-up to the March 3 meeting that she needed to bring her two children for a routine check-in to update Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s photos of them.

Shortly after arriving, ICE agents “attempted to force her to sign a document without explanation, then pushed the family into a vehicle to take a flight to a distant detention center,” De Bremaeker told the Times earlier.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions sent after hours Wednesday, but still said Rodriguez Gutierrez was “an illegal alien from Colombia” who “entered the United States illegally in 2022.”

She received a deportation order on November 25, 2024, according to DHS.

Thurmond, the superintendent, called on the public to pressure Congress and the Trump administration “to fire Joseph so he can continue his education.”

Thurmond showed a 40-second clip of Joseph and his family at a Colombian facility for the deaf.

The child appeared to have difficulty communicating with his brother and mother, while his brother repeatedly tried to give him instructions in Spanish, without success.

Joseph’s only language is American Sign Language, Thurmond said. Joseph was studying at the state-funded California School for the Deaf in Fremont.

“Joseph is in trouble,” Thurmond said. “He doesn’t have the ability to communicate with anyone, and in many ways he can barely communicate with his mother. Like Joseph’s mother, Lesly was just beginning to learn American Sign Language.”

California’s two senators – Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff – as well as Democratic congressmen Eric Swalwell, Nanette Barragán, Zoe Lofgren, Kevin Mullin and Lateefah Simon called on the US Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to investigate the expulsion.

The group is also calling on both government agencies to return the family to the United States through the humanitarian parole process. This decision would allow Joseph to re-enroll in school and receive specialized care.

Celena Ponce, founder of Hands United, a nonprofit dedicated to helping deaf immigrant children and families, said her group tries to connect the family with the deaf community and services, like interpreters, in Colombia.

She says, however, that Joseph and his family face several challenges. The first hurdle if he ends up staying in Colombia is that he and his mother will have to learn Colombian Sign Language, which differs from American Sign Language.

Ponce added that Joseph also suffers from language deprivation, meaning he is behind other hearing 6-year-olds.

“Because Colombia does not have boarding schools similar to those in California, the opportunity to be fully immersed in the language is not present,” she said.

Whatever progress he made at the California School for the Deaf will likely end, she said.

Times staff writers Clara Harter and Christopher Buchanan contributed to this report.