DHS lodges detainer for illegal immigrant accused of rape in California

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security took one person into custody Thursday in California in the case of an illegal immigrant accused of a crime that a top official called “the most heinous we have ever seen.”

DHS has been pressuring sanctuary states and sanctuary cities to respect and honor ICE detainees for reasons of public safety and national security, with little progress from those jurisdictions — telling Fox News Digital that they hope this is the case that will change their minds.

Mexican national Enrique Bautista-Vasquez, 20, was charged with rape, an increased sentence for sexual assault of a person incapable of consent and sexual assault of a victim considered “particularly vulnerable.”

The Trump administration alerted Fox News Digital to the detention request filed Thursday in Sacramento, with a senior DHS official calling the alleged crimes among the worst they have seen.

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Enrique Bautista-Vasquez, right, was arrested in Riverside County, California, after authorities say he sexually assaulted a minor. (Christopher Dilts/Getty Images; EDS)

On Dec. 31, Bautista-Vasquez met the 14-year-old girl — who is autistic and who he said habitually wanders away from home because of her condition — at a small nearby 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 to local media.

Authorities eventually focused on Bautista-Vasquez’s residence, where they found women’s boots and blood on the sheets, a DHS official said.

Separately, a stolen Texas Social Security card and a federal permanent residence card, later determined to be fraudulent, were found on or with Bautista-Vasquez, Cathedral City police told the NBC affiliate; information stored by DHS.

A top aide to Noem told Fox News Digital that she hopes California Gov. Gavin Newsom will essentially break with tradition and honor the detainer his office files against Bautista-Vasquez.

“This depraved illegal alien raped and sodomized an autistic child. Under the leadership of Deputy Secretary Noem, ICE took swift action to detain a detainer with authorities to ensure that this child rapist is NOT released back onto our streets,” said Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that Governor Newsom and his California politicians will cooperate and turn this bastard over to ICE,” she added.

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McLaughlin said California released 3,700 violent criminal illegal immigrants to “enable more crime and victimize more Americans.”

She also noted that Bautista-Vasquez was released inside the country by the Biden administration after being deported at least once.

The man is the subject of a final federal order of removal dated Dec. 16, 2024, to which DHS said he was ultimately removed from the United States, but returned on Jan. 2, 2025, and released just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration and subsequent “securitization” of the border, according to the agency.

His formal charges in Riverside County involve lewd/lascivious acts with a minor and rape.

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DHS said individuals who are aware of or are victims of “illegal alien crime” can receive support from the administration’s Office of Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement (VOICE) by calling 1-855-488-6423.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.