\u201cWhat was the sin?\u201d asked Rep. Eric Swalwell on Monday, decrying the deportation of 6-year-old Joseph Andrey Londono Rodriguez at a news conference outside Hayward City Hall.<\/p>\n
![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773195490_177_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Rep. Eric Swalwell holds a news conference Monday on the deportation of a family from Hayward. Among those at the event was Nikolas De Bremaeker, far left, attorney for the deported family.<\/p>\n
(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The Bay Area Democrat said that his staff had traveled to Colombia to return medical hearing devices to the boy. According to De Bremaeker, the mother pleaded with ICE agents to allow her to retrieve Joseph\u2019s hearing assistive devices when they were detained. <\/p>\n
Swalwell\u2019s staff is working with De Bremaeker to try to return the family to the U.S. on humanitarian parole and reenroll Joseph in the California School for the Deaf in Fremont. Joseph\u2019s mother lived in Hayward, worked as a cleaner and a child care worker and had no criminal record, according to the California Department of Education.<\/p>\n
State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said he was also pursuing \u201cevery available avenue\u201d to return Joseph to his school community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more we learn about the circumstances of Joseph\u2019s deportation, the more disturbing it gets,\u201d Thurmond said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cNo child should be brought to court under false pretenses and disappeared to a country where their family is at risk of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph, whose only language is American Sign Language, is struggling to cope in Colombia, where he is cut off from friends, teachers and community members, De Bremaeker said.<\/p>\n
His mother, Rodriguez Gutierrez, was under a supervisory order and required to periodically check in with an immigration officer or face deportation for failing to report, according to De Bremaeker. Last week, she believed she was showing up for a regular check-in with her 4- and 6-year-old children when the three of them were deported, he said.<\/p>\n
De Bremaeker said he was then given misleading information about the family\u2019s location, which he alleged violated their due process and limited his ability to try to legally intervene and block the deportation. <\/p>\n
The case first drew widespread attention Friday when De Bremaeker and Thurmond held a news conference in Los Angeles. Thurmond, who is running for governor, expressed outrage over the boy\u2019s deportation and said he\u2019d reached out to Swalwell\u2019s office for support.<\/p>\n
Then on Monday, Swalwell, who represents the Northern California community of Hayward, where the family lived, condemned the boy\u2019s deportation while taking a swing at the Trump administration\u2019s immigration agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to deport a cartel boss, everyone here will help you pack their bags, but if you\u2019re coming for a 6-year-old, you have to go through us,\u201d said Swalwell, who is also running for governor.<\/p>\n
Swalwell said he was working with Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) to look at \u201cwhat steps can be taken in Congress to ensure this will not happen again.\u201d He referenced an instance in which a child with Stage 4 cancer<\/a> was deported as evidence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s \u201cinhumane deportation policies.\u201d<\/p>\n