State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Shares Update, New Video Released by Mother of Joseph Londono Rodriguez; Child Uses Pictures, Gestures to Say that he Wants to Return to U.S.

SACRAMENTO—Today, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond held a press conference with the family attorney for Joseph Londono Rodriguez, a six-year-old Deaf child who was enrolled at the California School for the Deaf when he was detained and deported with his mother under false pretenses and without access to their attorney. At the press conference, which was held via livestream, Thurmond shared a newly released video of Joseph that his mother asked the California Department of Education (CDE) to share with the public.

In the video, which was taken by Joseph’s mother, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, the six-year-old boy can be seen drawing an airplane on a whiteboard and urgently using gestures and signs to try to communicate with his mother.

He is trying to tell his mom that he wants to go home,” said Nancy Hlibok Amann, Director of the California State Special Schools, upon seeing the video. “He made himself very clear,“ said Hlibok Amann, a native American Sign Language (ASL) user.

Last week, Thurmond met with Joseph, his mother, and their attorney as well as Joseph’s teacher and California School for the Deaf staff. In that meeting, Thurmond asked Joseph how he was feeling. His response, signed clearly in ASL: “I want to go back to school.”

“Joseph is telling us what he needs,” said Thurmond, “and it is our job to listen. There is absolutely no reason to put this family in danger or to cause this kind of harm to a child. Last week, I saw Joseph light up when he saw his teacher on Zoom and was able to sign with her in ASL. To see this video now, with Joseph clearly distressed and struggling to communicate, is disturbing and heartbreaking.”

Ms. Gutierrez, Joseph’s mother, is an asylum seeker fleeing domestic violence. Early in the week of March 9, 2026, Ms. Gutierrez was told to bring her children to a routine immigration check-in to have new photos. Instead, the family was immediately detained at the check-in and deported. They were denied access to Joseph’s assistive devices and denied access to their attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker, who was given false information about the family’s whereabouts by authorities.

Now, Ms. Gutierrez is advocating for her son’s needs and her family’s safety as she seeks immediate humanitarian parole in order to return to the United States. Her petition for humanitarian parole has gained the support of State Superintendent Thurmond as well as United States Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, Representatives Lateefah Simon and Eric Swalwell, and the entire California Democratic Congressional Delegation. All have officially communicated their support for the family’s safe return.

Today, De Bremaeker provided a further update from Ms. Gutierrez regarding Joseph’s well-being: “Joseph is struggling. While his brother is able to connect with family in Colombia, Joseph cannot at all. He is staying inside most of the time. His mother also struggles to understand him at times, which makes him feel even more isolated and ripped away from his community at school in Fremont and in Hayward. Ms. Gutierrez wanted to share this video because she believes Joseph was working very hard to make something clear to her: He wants them to go on the plane to get back home.”

Today’s press conference also included Celena Ponce of Hands United, an organization that supports immigrant families with children who are Deaf or hard of hearing to connect with and grow with their children. Hands United is working to provide Joseph’s family with support for his language development in Colombia and is also fundraising to support the family, who were deported to Colombia without any of their belongings. That fundraiser can be accessed on the Zeffy Support a Deaf Child and Family After Deportation web page .

A recording of today’s press conference is available on the CDE Facebook page . More information about the California School for the Deaf, Fremont can be found on the their website .

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100