ICE Deports Deaf Six-Year-Old Without Assistive Devices to Colombia

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained and deported a Hayward family — mother Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, her six‑year‑old deaf son and his five‑year‑old sibling — after a routine Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) check‑in at an office in San Francisco, according to multiple reports.

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The removal happened while the child, who uses a cochlear implant and communicates primarily in American Sign Language (ASL), was reportedly separated from his assistive devices.

NewsNation

A relative waiting outside tried to hand the equipment over but authorities detained the family before the devices could be delivered.

The accounts identify the boy as a student at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont and note he was home sick at the time.

Local and state education officials and advocates have urgently raised concerns about the child's loss of specialized services and communication access.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and education advocates warned that removing a deaf child from their ASL instruction and school support could disrupt critical development and communication.

Oz Arab Media

They called for the child's return.

Advocates and legal groups framed the removal as a humanitarian issue because the child was taken without necessary assistive devices and support.

Civil-rights advocates and immigration attorneys said the case involved procedural opacity that hindered legal challenges.

“Arabic version:عائلة من كاليفورنيا تُرحل، والمناصرون يطالبون بعودة طفل أصم Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez and her two children, aged five and six, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on 3 March 2026 during a check-in at their San Francisco office”

Oz Arab Media

Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership (ACILEP) and attorney Nikolas (Niko) De Bremaeker / De Bremaeker (spelled Nikolas in some accounts) described the removal as a serious humanitarian concern.

They said shifting or unclear information about detention locations - reports variously mentioning Louisiana or Phoenix - and a brief hold in Phoenix impeded efforts to contest the action in U.S. courts.

State officials and community members have called on federal authorities to locate and return the family.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a statement characterizing the arrest.

The Times of India

California leaders demanded action to bring the family back.

Thurmond called the removal "cruel".

DHS said ICE arrested Gutierrez on March 3.

DHS described her as an unlawful entrant who had previously been released into the U.S. under the Biden administration.