An illegal immigrant who allegedly gouged a toddler’s face with his teeth last week was in the country because Biden-era immigration officials decided a 2023 crime was not serious enough to justify his deportation.
During an April 18 attack in a San Antonio park, Amelia Perez, who is three years old, suffered severe wounds on her face and two teeth knocked out, according to the New York Post.
A news release from the Department of Homeland Security explained the background of the tragedy that did not need to happen.
Atharva Vyas, the 24-year-old suspect, entered the U.S. in August 2023 from India on a student visa. He made it three months before being arrested for felony assault at the University of Texas campus.
Illegal alien Atharva Vyas—arrested in San Antonio TX for an unprovoked attack, punching a mother in the face, then ripping her 3-year-old daughter out of her arms, biting & then eating the child’s face. pic.twitter.com/VLDP3Vd7DU
— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) April 24, 2026
Although the college followed procedure and contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “the Biden Administration determined this crime was not ‘egregious’ enough to warrant visa revocation and decided to take no enforcement action against Vyas.”
After his arrest, ICE lodged a detainer to get its hands on Vyas after his trial. The Trump administration had already revoked his F-1 visa prior to the San Antonio incident based on the 2023 assault.
“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,” Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis 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,” she said.
Gabriella Perez, 27, told the New York Post the girl is “terrified to sleep. She’s lashing out, angry. She doesn’t understand evil like this f***ing man. She’ll never be the same again.”
“That brute was ravaging my baby!” she said.
The April 18 incident took place in Espada Park after Perez took Amelia to a restroom.
The suspect grabbed the mother by the hair and hit her in the jaw. The suspect then turned to the child, biting her on the face.
HORRIFYING: Illegal alien from India BRUTALLY ASSAULTS mother and BITES her 3-year-old child’s face.
The alien, Atharva Vyas, randomly assaulted Gabriella Perez and her daughter at a San Antonio park. The attack began as Vyas forcefully grabbed Perez by the hair, causing her… https://t.co/TUE70eQI08 pic.twitter.com/QzJjI7wwMT
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 25, 2026
High on something called “wax” — a cannabis product with the impact of 15 to 20 joints — the suspect got on all fours, pinned the girl to the ground, put his thumbs in her eyes, and began gnawing on her face.
Witnesses came to haul the suspect off the toddler. Perez recalled two men with guns approaching.
“I was screaming ‘Shoot him! Shoot him,’” she said.
By the time San Antonio police arrived, the suspect was drifting in and out of consciousness.
“In the emergency room, the adults were all going crazy while Amelia was suffering shock. She sat eerie calm, like a statue, while the nurses and doctors worked on her poor face,” Perez said. “She didn’t make a peep, even though she was in a great deal of pain. It hadn’t hit her yet, what happened.”
Vyas has been charged with injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury, assault causing bodily injury, and illegal entry from a foreign nation.
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