SAN JOSE, Calif. — Advocates for the 6-year-old deaf Hayward boy who was deported earlier this month to Colombia say the child’s language skills appear to be deteriorating as he faces problems communicating with almost everyone around him, including his own mother.

“He’s really struggling — the issues have just gotten worse,” said Nikolas De Bremaeker, the family’s attorney with Centro Legal de la Raza.

The mounting concerns come as state and federal elected officials continue to voice outrage while urging the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Joseph Rodriguez, as well as his mother and 4-year-old brother.

The family was detained and deported during what was supposed to be a check-in visit at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in San Francisco, leading to allegations from that ICE agents misled the family’s attorney and removed them under false pretenses.

At a press conference Wednesday, California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond discussed a recent conversation he had with Joseph, during which the child drew a picture of an airplane and signed the words “I want to go back to school.” The message was “disturbing and heartbreaking,” said Thurmond.

“Joseph is telling us what he needs and it is our job to listen,” Thurmond said. “There is absolutely no reason to put this family in danger or to cause this kind of harm to a child.”

De Bremaeker said interpreters have raised concerns that Joseph is starting to sign in ways that are “out of the ordinary,” and “not in accordance with regular signing.”

“His own mom is struggling to understand what he’s saying,” the attorney added.

Joseph and his family had been in the United States for about four years when they were detained on March 3. His mother had sought asylum here while escaping an abusive relationship that involved a man with gang ties in the South American country, De Bremaeker said.

ICE officials have repeatedly said over the last week that the mother had been under a removal order issued on Nov. 25, 2024, and that the family had been detained after “failing to comply with multiple directives to report.” The agency added that the family “received full due process,” and that the child’s mother chose to be removed from the country with her children. The agency’s statements have stressed that “ICE does not separate families.”

De Bremaeker has strongly disputed the agency’s claims, stressing that the mother had complied with all directives from ICE and had attended all of her court hearings. ICE officials barred the family from receiving critical parts of the boy’s cochlear implants before whisking them away to South America, all while providing misleading information about their whereabouts, De Bremaeker said.

Last week, the attorney kicked off a legal battle to get the family back to the United States by filing an application for humanitarian parole. The filing to the Department of Homeland Security is typically sought by people seeking admission for “urgent circumstances,” such as a pressing medical need or concerns that the applicant is at risk of human trafficking, domestic violence or abandonment, according to the agency’s website.

A cadre of California’s congressional delegation subsequently sent a letter to the agency demanding the boy’s return. The letter’s signees included California’s two U.S. senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, along with Democratic representatives Eric Swalwell, Nanette Barragán, Zoe Lofgren, Kevin Mullin and Lateefah Simon.

De Braemaker originally asked the boy to be returned by Wednesday. That date passed with no response from the agency, the attorney said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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