Deaf men muted by US immigration police
How do you sign or write when your hands are cuffed behind you?
In Deaf, mute and terrified: ICE arrests DACA recipient and ships him to Texas, Brittny Mejia (a reporter for the Los Angeles Times) recounted the seizure and detention of Javier Diaz Santana in Temple City, CA. US federal immigration agents nabbed Mr. Santana, who is deaf and communicates using sign language and writing, at his place of employment. The officers did not allow him to communicate, either by writing or using sign language.
He was on his way to wash a car when he glanced up and saw co-workers sprinting off. A woman frantically motioned for him to flee. His heart raced as he tried to find the source of their alarm.
Confused and frightened, Javier Diaz Santana jumped over the wall behind the car wash in the San Gabriel Valley. Years earlier, a vehicle had run over Diaz’s foot while he worked there, and it was a struggle for him to run. He made it about a block. His foot throbbed with pain.
Soon the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had him. They yelled to him. He pointed to his ears. They took his wallet and his phone. They cuffed him. Soon enough he was no longer in California; he was sent to a detention facility in Texas.
Ms. Mejia carried the story1 through to Mr. Santana’s return to his home. A judge in Texas released him.
Mr. Santana is not the only one.
A man from Mongolia2 was detained by immigration officials and held at a federal prison in Otay Mesa (near the border between the US and Mexico in the San Diego, CA, area). He, too, was effectively muted until a judge ordered the federal government to provide a translator capable of talking Mongolian sign language.
Gustavo Solis3 of KPBS published “The plight of a disabled man in ICE custody shows impact of Trump immigration orders” on 16 May 2025:
A deaf and mute Mongolian man has spent more than 80 days at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. During that time, he has not had an opportunity to see a judge or communicate with anyone who understands Mongolian Sign Language, according to his sister and lawyer.
Bema, the man’s sister, described her brother’s time in the privately-run detention facility as being "trapped in silence.”
“He’s completely cut off from understanding or participating in what’s happening to him, that’s what breaks my heart” said Bema, a U.S. citizen who lives in Virginia and is trying to sponsor her brother.
Mr. Solis KPBS posted a YouTube report that includes interviews with the man and his sister as well as an attorney representing him. See it at “The plight of a disabled man in ICE custody shows impact of Trump immigration orders” (yes same title was before, but video content).
Wendy Fry of CalMatters reported about the same case more recently (11 July 2025) in this story: “Deaf Mongolian immigrant held by ICE in California for 4 months with no access to interpreter.”
A deaf Mongolian man has spent more than four months in a Southern California immigrant detention center without the opportunity to communicate with anyone who understands Mongolian Sign Language, according to his civil rights attorney.
“He’s basically been in solitary confinement because he has not had one person actually speak to him in Mongolian Sign Language for the entirety of the time that he’s been in proceedings and detained,” said his attorney, Alegría De La Cruz, director of litigation for the Disability Rights Legal Center.
Special education?
This post is not really about special education, but it is. It is about individuals with disabilities and how they are treated. I have neither the expertise nor the evidence to determine whether Mr. Santana’s civil rights were violated. If the facts presented in Ms. Mejia’s article are right, Mr. Santana had had court-validated status to be in the US, he had a valid work permit, he communicated using American Sign Language, he could read and write English…but he was denied the opportunity to understand why he was being “arrested” or how to respond to questions. The Mongolian man could speak—never mind about whether he was entitled to “free speech.”
As special educators, we are of course concerned about individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or mute. But, we also need to be concerned about people with whom they interact. Even if someone can sign, read, and write, she or he has to be understood. We special educators need to educate the people with whom they come into contact. We need our hearing friends and neighbors to understand some basic signs.
There are many videos teaching some basic signs. Luanne Sailors, in the foregoing video, is a real teacher at a real school who is promoting sign literacy. Maybe we should create sign-language clubs at schools? How about producing a basic sign literacy course on video? Make our deaf students the teachers? How about local education agencies having a sports-style playoff in which the school with the highest percentage of faculty members who can interpret some basis signs top prize and every school that has a minimum percentage of capable faculty members gets a plaque?
Meanwhile, not to get political, but it (excuse me) sounds like these men (and others with disabilities) lost some civil rights. They just seemed to get uncivil wrongs.
I think there is more in the treatment of individuals with disabilities in immigration matters these days. I anticipate returning to this topic as we learn more. If you, Dear Readers, know of instances where individuals with disabilities have been ensnared in and mistreated by authorities acting of behalf of thwarting illegal immigration, please let me know. Post in the comments or write to me directly so we can share with each other.
Footnotes
Some folks might say that they have reason to doubt the story. “It must be made up,” they could say. I have no reason to doubt Ms. Mejia’s reporting. Her journalistic credibility seems damn well established. She’s been a reporter for the LA Times since 2014. In 2016, she was among the members of the Times staff that received a Pulitzer for reporting about the terrorist attack in San Bernardino and in 2021, her reports about health care made her a finalist for another Pulitzer Prize.
He has been called “Avirmed” and “Bahn” in reports. That is the name the man’s family requested that reporters use because they fear his country’s government could retaliate against his family.
Again, I have no reason to believe that Mr. Solis is making up this story for political gain. Mr. Solis is also a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter. I’m not going to dismiss his reporting as false evidence.