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US Congressman speak about family deported to Colombia
Hayward's mayor, other officials and US Rep. Eric Swalwell speak about the deportation of Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, and her sons, ages 5 and 6, who were deported to Colombia when they checked in for their asylum hearing with ICE in San Francisco. This is the full press conference.
HAYWARD, Calif. - U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell on Monday held a press conference to say that a member of his staff flew to Colombia to bring a hearing aid for a six-year-old deaf son of a mother who was not allowed to bring the device to her home country when federal officials removed the family from the country last week.
What we know:
Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, an undocumented Colombian immigrant who had lived in the United States since 2022, was detained along with her sons during a routine check-in with federal immigration officials last Tuesday. The family was subsequently deported to Colombia. Her six-year-old son, Joseph, who is deaf, was not permitted to take his hearing devices with him. He had attended California School for the Deaf in Fremont.
"No sane human, no person with a beating heart would allow this to go on," said Swalwell, a Democrat representing the Hayward area. "And yet it does."
The family's attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker, called the circumstances of the deportation a violation of due process and said he is seeking an exemption for the family on humanitarian parole grounds.
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Deaf child deported from Bay Area | West Coast Wrap
Members of East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell's office are flying to Colombia tonight to take a badly needed piece of medical equipment to a 6-year-old boy who was deported along with his family. There are growing calls to bring the family back to the U.S.
"It shocks the conscience," De Bremaeker said, adding that deporting a non-citizen without allowing them access to devices needed to communicate "fundamentally violates due process."
What's next:
De Bremaeker said multiple members of California's congressional delegation are pressuring the Department of Homeland Security to allow the family to return to the United States, and that lawmakers have launched a formal inquiry into the matter.
"With this, we hope to compel DHS to bring the family home and allow Joseph to go back to school at the California School for the Deaf," De Bremaeker said.
The other side:
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE does not separate families, and that parents are given a choice during removal proceedings.
"Parents are given a choice: They can be removed with their children or place them with a safe person they designate," the statement read. "Gutierrez chose to be removed with her children."
The agency said that Rodriguez Gutierrez was issued a final removal order by an immigration judge on Nov. 25, 2024. The agency did not identify the judge or state on what grounds she was denied asylum.
According to her attorney and a relative, Gutierrez had sought asylum on the grounds of domestic abuse from her former partner, who had ties to a violent gang, and her son’s disability.