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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security lodged a detainer Thursday in California in the case of an illegal immigrant accused of a crime that a top official there is calling the “most heinous one we’ve ever seen.”
DHS has been pressing sanctuary states and sanctuary cities to respect and honor ICE detainers for public safety and national security reasons, with little headway from those jurisdictions, telling Fox News Digital they hope this is the case that will change their minds.
A 20-year-old Mexican national, Enrique Bautista-Vasquez, was charged with rape, a sentence enhancement for sexual assault of a person unable to consent and sexual assault of a victim deemed to be “particularly vulnerable” and is being held in Indio after the alleged attack in nearby Cathedral City, according to NBC’s Palm Springs affiliate.
The Trump administration alerted Fox News Digital to the detainer request being filed with Sacramento Thursday, with a top DHS official characterizing the alleged crimes as among the worst they’ve seen.
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Enrique Bautista-Vasquez, right, was arrested in Riverside County, Calif., after authorities say he sexually assaulted a minor. (Christopher Dilts/Getty Images; DHS)
On December 31, Bautista-Vasquez encountered the 14-year-old girl — who is autistic and who reports said habitually wanders from home due to her condition — on a nearby small college campus, where officials say he convinced her to follow him through a business park and eventually to his home, according to DHS.
There, Bautista-Vasquez allegedly sodomized the girl and had “vaginal intercourse,” according to a police official speaking with local media.
Authorities eventually zeroed in on Bautista-Vasquez’s home, where they found women’s boots and blood on bedsheets, a DHS official said.
Separately, a stolen Texas Social Security card and federal permanent residency card later found to be fraudulent were found on or with Bautista-Vasquez, Cathedral City police told the NBC affiliate; information backed up by DHS.
A top Noem deputy told Fox News Digital she hopes California Gov. Gavin Newsom will essentially break with tradition and honor the detainer her office is lodging against Bautista-Vasquez.
“This depraved illegal alien raped and sodomized a child with autism. Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, ICE took swift action to lodge a detainer with authorities to ensure this child rapist is not released onto our streets,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee Governor Newsom and his California sanctuary politicians will cooperate and turn this scumbag over to ICE.”
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McLaughlin said California has released 3,700 violent criminal illegal immigrants from custody to “perpetrate more crimes and victimize more Americans.”
She also noted that Bautista-Vasquez was released into the interior by the Biden administration after previously being deported at least once.
The man has a federal final order of removal dated Dec. 16, 2024, when DHS said he was ultimately booted from the U.S. But he returned Jan. 2, 2025, and was released just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration and subsequent “securing” of the border, according to the agency.
His formal charges in Riverside County are lewd/lascivious acts with a minor and rape.
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DHS said individuals who know victims or are victims of “illegal alien crime” can receive support from the administration’s Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement Office (VOICE) by calling 1-855-488-6423.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
