DHS Requests Detention of Illegal Immigrant Accused of Sexual Assault

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is urging Florida officials not to release a illegal immigrant charged with drugging and raping a woman.

Yucel Keoma Pérez-Leyva, a 42-year-old Cuban national, was taken into custody on June 18 after a woman reported that she had been drugged and assaulted following a night out at a club.

According to the victim, who accused Pérez-Leyva of drugging her while he was acting as an Uber driver, she experienced pain the next day and suspected she had been raped.

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Investigators reviewed surveillance footage showing Pérez-Leyva carrying the seemingly intoxicated woman into an apartment, as reported by NBC Miami.

DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Biss stated, “This illegal alien from Cuba is accused of raping and kidnapping a woman in Miami. This sex offender was released into our country by the Biden administration. ICE has applied for detention, and since Florida is cooperating, he will be transferred to ICE custody and won’t be released into American society again.”

Charges against Pérez-Leyva include kidnapping and sexual assault while the victim was incapacitated, according to jail records.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had requested that the Miami-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (MDCR) notify federal authorities before releasing him.

Miami-Dade and Florida authorities generally work with ICE, unlike jurisdictions that avoid cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.

Pérez-Leyva reportedly entered the U.S. illegally through Arizona in 2021 before being released under the Biden administration’s policies, as noted by DHS.