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EXCLUSIVE: An illegal alien who was released from immigration custody by a Clinton-appointed federal judge in August has been charged with allegedly raping a woman inside her own Minnesota home two months later, federal immigration authorities told Fox News.
Marcotulio Melendez Diaz, 42, of Honduras, was working as a handyman on Oct. 11, when he allegedly overpowered and repeatedly raped the resident against her will.
The assault inside the Mounds View home was captured on her indoor surveillance video, officials said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) blasted U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia for ordering his release, arguing that the incident could have been prevented if Melendez Diaz had remained in custody.
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Marcotulio Melendez Diaz, a Honduran national, faces up to 30 years in prison after allegedly overpowering and repeatedly raping a Minnesota woman in her home. (Provided to Fox News)
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“This is what happens when activist judges side with criminal illegal aliens over Americans,” the agency said in a statement. “ICE arrested him, and an immigration judge ordered his deportation. But a Clinton-appointed federal judge ordered him RELEASED.
“And now an American woman has suffered a horrific crime that could have been PREVENTED.”
Melendez Diaz was arrested in Minnesota during ICE’s Operation Metro Surge in January. (Fox News Digital, File)
ICE sources told Fox News that Melendez Diaz was initially apprehended and released at the southern border by the Biden administration in April 2024.
He was arrested again in Minnesota in January 2026, during Operation Metro Surge, and transferred to ICE detention in Texas, according to the officials.
On March 30, an immigration judge issued a deportation order against him, which Melendez Diaz appealed, the authorities said.
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ICE sources told FOX that Melendez Diaz was initially apprehended and released at the southern border by the Biden administration in April 2024. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images, File)
While the deportation order was under review, Garcia, a federal judge in the Western District of Texas, ordered his release from ICE custody after granting his habeas petition on due process grounds, finding that his detention had been unlawful or unreasonably prolonged.
The ruling allowed Melendez Diaz to return to Minnesota.
On Oct. 9, Melendez Diaz’s appeal was rejected, and the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a deportation order against him.
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Just two days after his deportation order became final, he was charged with rape.
Melendez Diaz was charged with felony first-degree criminal sexual penetration involving coercion.
He remains in custody and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
