Deaf Mongolian man faces deportation without due process

A deaf Mongolian man has spent over 80 days detained at California’s Otay Mesa Detention Center without seeing an immigration judge or accessing a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter, raising due process concerns amid President Donald Trump’s expanded deportation enforcement.

About the man and his case: The detainee, identified only as Bay, reportedly entered the U.S. in February and surrendered immediately to Border Patrol agents while carrying a letter translated into English that requested asylum. Agents, however, rejected the document, refusing to accept it or even look at it, his attorney Andrea Montavon-McKillip told KPBS.

Officials processed Bay through expedited removal, bypassing the credible fear screening that Trump administration executive orders have eliminated, leaving him able to only write “Mongolia” on a piece of paper and “use body language to indicate that he was afraid” during his assessment. Montavon-McKillip has filed a federal motion to prevent his client’s deportation.

“Trapped in silence”:  Bay’s sister, Bema, a U.S. citizen living in Virginia hoping to sponsor him, described her brother’s situation 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,” Bema told KPBS.

She emphasized that Bay has no criminal record in Mongolia and pleaded, “Just give him a chance to tell his story. All we are asking for is fairness on his part.”

The big picture: Bay’s detention comes amid the Trump administration’s sweeping deportation efforts, including nationwide expansion of expedited removal and termination of protections. Federal enforcement now focuses on individuals described as “the worst of the worst” while authorizing “collateral arrests” of others encountered during operations.

The exact number of undocumented illegal migrants from Mongolia is unknown, but census data shows roughly 50,000 Americans identified as Mongolian in 2023, making them the 19th-largest Asian origin group and comprising about 0.2% of the nation’s Asian population.