News Swalwell says staffer flew to Colombia to return hearing aid to deported 6-year-old boy by Ashleigh Fields - 03/10/26 8:48 PM ET by Ashleigh Fields - 03/10/26 8:48 PM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) on Monday said one of his staffers flew to Colombia to return a hearing aid device to a 6-year-old who was deported alongside his mother.  “As we stand here, my staff has just landed in Columbia, and is placing the hearing devices back in the boy’s ear,” the California lawmaker said at a Monday press conference . “He was able to do that with the help of the community who rallied to get his devices and personal belongings. So I thank my staff, and I thank the community for coming together,” Swalwell added. Last week, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez was detained alongside her son, Joseph, during a routine check-in with immigration officials, according to local outlet KWU2 .  The family was then sent to Colombia, their country of origin, without being given a chance to obtain Joseph’s hearing aids, according to their attorney.  Swalwell said his office is working with the Families Council to help the family to the United States under humanitarian parole, so Joseph can return to his school. “What happened here was not about public safety. How does ruining the life of a six-year-old deaf child make our community or our country be safer? It doesn’t. It makes the country darker,” Swalwell said on Monday.  The family’s attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker, said Rodriguez Gutierrez was “pleading with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to allow her to get the assistive devices that her six-year-old deaf child desperately needs to live,” at the Monday press conference. He said her family member was in a car outside the building and would have been able to bring the assistive devices to her.  “In a move that shocks the conscience and violates several laws, as well as our constitution, ICE denied Joseph the assistive devices he needs to live,” De Bremaeker said. “Then in a fundamental violation of the family’s due process rights, ICE misled our team at every turn regarding the location of the family and stopped Ms. Torrijos Gutierrez from having access to counsel, which she is entitled to under our constitution,” he added. De Bremaeker said he was unable to locate the family for three days after they were detained at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s San Francisco office . He said the confusion blocked him from submitting the “necessary emergency filings in the appropriate jurisdiction.” “To make matters worse, Ms. Torrijos Gutierrez was not allowed to invoke the humanitarian protections that should have stopped and blocked the detention and deportation of a six-year-old deaf child, his mom, and his four-year-old sibling,” De Bremaeker added. Add as preferred source on Google Tags Eric Swalwell Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email More News News See All News YouTube expands access to AI detection tool to politicians and journalists by Ashleigh Fields 3 hours ago News  /  3 hours ago