U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued a detainer for a Salvadoran national accused in the drowning death of a 14-month-old child, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The ICE detainer requests that authorities in North Carolina keep Angel Israel Deras-Rivas in custody and notify federal immigration officials before any potential release. Deras-Rivas was arrested Sunday in Garner, officials said.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin pointed to the Biden administration’s immigration approach while commenting on the case, saying federal border policies played a role in how Deras-Rivas was able to remain in the United States.
“This criminal illegal alien has been charged with murder and felony child abuse after letting a 14-month-old drown in a bathtub,” Mullin said in a statement to News Outlet.
Angel Israel Deras-Rivas was taken into custody after authorities said he left a 14-month-old child alone in a bathtub filled with water. (Department of Homeland Security)
Deras-Rivas, 19, had been watching his stepchild when he allegedly walked away from the toddler, who was in a water-filled bathtub, according to an arrest warrant cited by the Raleigh News & Observer. The child died, and the case unfolded only months after Deras-Rivas reportedly married the toddler’s mother in April.
Federal immigration authorities said Deras-Rivas, whom DHS described as being in the country unlawfully, entered the United States through Texas in October 2023 and was later released into the country under the Biden administration.
FILE – DHS said Angel Israel Deras-Rivas, a Salvadoran national described by the agency as a criminal illegal alien, is accused of leaving his 14-month-old stepchild to drown in a bathtub. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)
“That child would still be alive today if it weren’t for the reckless open-border policies of the Biden Administration that released this criminal into our country in the first place. ICE is calling on officials in North Carolina to commit to not releasing this killer from jail, and to turn him over to ICE custody so we can get him out of our country.”
Immigration officials said ICE lodged the detainer with the Wake County Sheriff’s Department on the same day Deras-Rivas was arrested.
FILE – ICE issued a detainer for Angel Israel Deras-Rivas after his arrest. (Bloomberg)
An ICE detainer typically requests that local law enforcement notify the agency before an individual’s release and hold the person for up to 48 additional hours beyond their scheduled release date, allowing ICE agents time to take the individual into federal custody for potential removal proceedings.
News Outlet reached out to the Garner Police Department for more information.
