Two illegal immigrants were arrested last week after being accused of repeatedly raping an unaccompanied migrant child who was illegally brought to the U.S. during the Obama administration.
Felix Bustillo Diaz, 49, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, and Jose Gerber-Rivera, a 45-year-old Salvadoran illegal alien, are suspected of repeatedly raping Bustillo’s 12-year-old grand niece.
The girl was smuggled into the U.S. by her Honduran mother in June 2014, according to federal authorities. The child’s mother was herself an unaccompanied minor at the time and brought the girl, then an infant, with her.
The child was then left alone with Bustillo, a convicted criminal who ended up being her sponsor after he claimed to be her great uncle, marking a startling failure in the sponsor vetting process. Bustillo was convicted on a DWI in Harris County, Texas, in 2003, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told NR.
They were brought into the custody of the Obama administration’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, a unit within the Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Children and Families.
The Biden administration then granted Bustillo temporary protected status in 2024, a designation that the Trump administration terminated. Earlier this month, Bustillo was transferred from the Montgomery County processing center to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to be held in custody. He was at the processing center after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him for immigration violations. Law enforcement brought Rivera into custody on November 4 in the Woodlands, Texas.
The victim managed to escape Bustillo’s custody following years of abuse, with assistance from two residents who told her they were rescuing her. The Houston-area residents, Brenda Garcia and Tania Garcia, allegedly zip-tied, beat, tortured, and malnourished the minor. They have also been accused of forcing the minor to perform manual labor. In October, authorities arrested the two women on multiple charges related to torturing the child. The Houston division of the Homeland Security Investigations unit within DHS worked with local law enforcement on the case.
“The conduct uncovered in this investigation was both disturbing and inexcusable,” said HSI Houston special agent in charge Chad Plantz.
“Our agents and partners worked tirelessly to ensure these individuals are brought to justice and held fully accountable for their crimes. HSI puts the safety and security of the victims as our highest priority.”
The disturbing case is a prime example of why the Trump administration is overseeing reforms at the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Under President Biden, the ORR put over 11,000 unaccompanied minors with unvetted sponsors and failed to follow up on thousands of reports of child trafficking. In February, the Trump administration released new guidance to ensure a thorough background check and identity verification process to ensure gang members and sex traffickers cannot exploit holes in the system.
“This atrocious case demonstrates exactly why the Trump Administration has prioritized comprehensive reforms to the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s unaccompanied alien children program,” said John Fabbricatore, senior adviser at HHS.
“On day one, a vow was made to stop the chaos, secure the border, and protect children. We will not tolerate children being placed with sponsors who pose risks to their safety and well-being.”
The rape case remains under criminal investigation by federal and local law enforcement. Authorities are not releasing further information in order to protect the child, who is now safe.