ICE deported a six-year-old deaf boy from Hayward along with his mom and brother, but Eric Swalwell is trying to win the return of this family of three, and his staff did at least get the kid his hearing aids.

We reported last week on the story of Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, a single mom from Colombia who has living here in Hayward with her five- and six-year-old boys. The seven-year-old is deaf, which makes it particularly heartbreaking that the whole family was detained, arrested, and deported back to Colombia last Tuesday during a routine check-in at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Tehama Street And further, the deaf son was not allowed to take his hearing aid with him.

Now this week, KGO reports that the district’s congressman (and gubernatorial candidate) Eric Swalwell is now getting involved. Swalwell has staffers on the ground in Colombia, who brought the deaf boy his hearing aid.


"As we stand here, my staff has just landed in Colombia and is placing the hearing devices back in the boy's ear," Swalwell said at a Monday press conference. "To the child we have returned his sound, but to our nation, what has happened to our soul."

"If you want to deport a cartel boss, everyone here will help you pack their bags," Swalwell added. "But if you're coming for a 6-year-old, you have to go through us...How does ruining the life of a 6-year-old deaf child make our community or our country any safer? It doesn't, it makes the country darker."

For their part, ICE gave a statement to KRON on why they deported the Gutierrez family. ICE claims the family entered the country illegally in 2022, that a judge ordered them removed as of June 24, 2024, and that the mother refused to comply with "multiple directives" to leave the country.

Gutierrez said last week that she had fled Colombia four years ago in order to flee an ex-boyfriend with whom she was in an abusive relationship, and who was linked to a violent street gang.

Related: Hayward Family of Three Deported at Routine SF Immigration Check-in, Including Deaf Six-Year-Old Boy

Image Courtesy Family Of Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez