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An illegal migrant is accused of biting a 3-year-old girl in the face during an attack at a Texas park, authorities said, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has now lodged a detainer against the suspect following his arrest.
Gabriella Perez, 27, and her daughter, Amelia Perez, 3, were walking at Espada Park on April 18 when they were allegedly attacked by 24-year-old Artharva Vyas, an Indian national, according to San Antonio police.
Police said Vyas allegedly assaulted the mother by pulling her hair and punching her, causing her to drop her daughter, and then attacked the child and bit her face.
The case has drawn scrutiny because Vyas had previously been arrested for an alleged felony assault months after entering the U.S. in 2023, but was not removed from the country, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
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Atharva Vyas (pictured) first entered the U.S. in August 2023 under a student visa when he was arrested months later on an assault charge. (BCSO)
Witnesses restrained Vyas until officers arrived, according to police.
The child’s mother later described the attack as something “out of a zombie movie.”
Since the attack, Perez created a GoFundMe page, saying her daughter lost two teeth and “has needed constant care, comfort, and reassurance.”
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“She is unable to return to daycare or be left with anyone else, so I have had to take time away from work to be by her side,” the page’s description reads.
Vyas was charged with injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury, assault causing bodily injury, and illegal entry, according to authorities. He was booked into the Bexar County Detention Center.
ICE has lodged a detainer requesting that local authorities transfer Vyas to federal custody after his criminal proceedings, according to DHS.
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DHS said Vyas first entered the United States in August 2023 on a student visa. Three months later, he was arrested on the University of Texas campus on charges of felony assault, and university police contacted ICE.
According to DHS, “the Biden Admin determined the crime was not egregious enough to warrant visa revocation and decided to take no enforcement action against Vyas.”
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Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis condemned the earlier decision not to revoke Vyas’ visa.
“This criminal illegal alien brutally bit this child and caused her to lose two teeth. This barbaric assault against this woman and her three-year-old in a park was completely preventable,” she said. “The Biden administration NEVER should have released this animal following his arrest for assault. We are working with our partners in Texas to ensure this criminal illegal alien never roams free in American communities again.”
DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment.