Deaf Mongolian Immigrant Held by ICE Represented by Former Sonoma Equity Officer

Attorney Alegría De La Cruz, director of litigation for DRLC, is representing a deaf Mongolian man who has spent more than four months in a Southern California immigrant detention center

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.

The deaf man is represented by former Sonoma County Equity Officer and Santa Rosa City Schools Trustee Alegria De La Cruz, the recently hired Director of Litigation for Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC).

Per A July 11, 2025 article in Cal Matters:

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.

U.S. Southern District of California Judge Dana Sabraw this week ordered officials at the Otay Mesa Detention Center to provide him with a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter.

The judge also directed immigration authorities to redo two assessments that could affect his request for asylum. One would examine his mental health, and the other would evaluate whether he has a credible fear for his safety if he returns to his country.

“How can he meaningfully participate if he doesn’t know what’s being said and he cannot communicate?” Sabraw asked a federal attorney at the hearing on Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Dimbleby said many people don’t fully understand the legal proceedings in immigration court.

The man’s family requested that CalMatters identify him by the name Avirmed because of their fear that he could be harmed by the Mongolian government if he is returned to his home country.

Avirmed’s detention after seeking asylum underscores the sharp shift in border policies from the Biden administration to Trump’s…

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Ms. Sylvia Torres-Guillén serves as the President & CEO for DRLC.

In 2012, ALRB’s new general counsel, Sylvia Torres-Guillen, hired Arciniega among several union activists to expand the ALRB legal staff to go after farmers. One of the activist lawyers, Silas Shawver, became Regional Director of ALRB office in Visalia. Another, Alegria de la Cruz, was hired as a lawyer in Torres-Guillen’s office.

I question the legitimacy of De La Cruz’s advocacy.