U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is urging local Kentucky law enforcement not to release an illegal immigrant charged with sexual assault after placing a detainer on him, the Daily Caller News Foundation first learned.
On Feb. 5, Yordan Basilio Diaz Vera, a 34-year-old Lyft driver, was arrested by Louisville authorities and charged of first-degree sodomy and kidnapping a mother of four. Since his arrest, ICE has placed a detainer on Diaz Vera and is now pleading with the Louisville police to not release the suspect back onto the city streets.
DHS officials confirmed to the DCNF that Diaz Vera illegally entered the U.S. under former President Joe Biden’s administration in November 2022 from Cuba.
“Yordan Basilio Diaz Vera was released into our communities under the Biden administration before he went onto to brutally sodomize a mother of four at gunpoint in Louisville. This criminal illegal alien is a monster who has no right to be in our country and this crime was entirely preventable,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told the DCNF.
“We have lodged an arrest detainer requesting local authorities notify ICE law enforcement instead of RELEASING this predator from jail into Louisville neighborhoods,” Bis added. “President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow sexual predator aliens to roam free in America.”
Despite admitting that he entered the country illegally, Diaz Vera’s attorney told WLKY that he held a work permit and was waiting to receive legal status.
A day prior to Diaz Vera’s arrest, the Cuban illegal migrant picked up a mother of four after a ride was requested to take her to a doctor’s appointment. After she got into the backseat, Diaz Vera allegedly stopped at a church parking lot near her appointment. Diaz Vera then pulled a gun from his glove compartment, locked the doors, moved to the backseat and sodomized the mother.
After the alleged assault, police said Diaz Vera dropped the victim off at her doctor’s appointment, WLKY reported.
Upon exiting the vehicle, she called police, with Diaz Vera later being arrested and charged with 1st degree sodomy, menacing, and kidnapping.
Following the incident, the Cuban illegal immigrant was permanently removed from Lyft’s platform. A company spokesperson called the behavior “reprehensible.”
“The behavior described is reprehensible and has no place in the Lyft community or society. We have permanently removed the driver from the Lyft platform and are assisting law enforcement with their investigation,” the spokesperson told the DCNF.
However, Lyft declined to say whether or not it had been aware of Diaz Vera’s immigration status.
According to the company’s site, all drivers are expected to “meet certain requirements to drive on the platform.” Potential drivers must undergo a criminal background check as part of the application process, with a valid Social Security number being part of the check process.
Notably, the platform warns that drivers may be ineligible if their background reveals they are on the National Sex Offender Registry or have been convicted of disqualifying offenses such as a “disqualifying violent crime,” sexual offense or act of terror, with other crimes subject to time frames depending on the region.
Diaz Vera pleaded not guilty to the charges, with his bond set at $100,000. He remains in custody at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections.
Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, the Department of Homeland Security published a list of more than 500 cities it classified as “sanctuary jurisdictions,” including Louisville.
By June 2025, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the city would reinstate its 48-hour hold policy for “inmates who are arrested for crimes, are booked in our jail and are subject to deportation notices,” reversing a 2017 change that had shortened the hold to five to 12 hours.
Despite the federal government’s hope to deport Diaz Vera out of the country, the victim’s attorney told WLKY that she fears if he is deported it will impact the justice she would receive through the state’s courts.
LMDC did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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