Atharva Vyas, a 24-year-old Indian man, has been arrested for attacking a mother and her three-year-old daughter in a park in San Antonio, Texas. ICE has issued a detainer against the person, meaning that after his proceedings with law enforcement are concluded, he will be taken into ICE custody and deported. The department said they had canceled Vyas’s student visa in 2025 due to his past criminal record and that he was living in the US illegally.Gabriela Perez and her daughter suffered an unprovoked attack by Vyas on April 18 at around 3 pm. The mother was walking with her child in the park when Vyas allegedly grabbed Perez by the hair, causing her to fall and drop the child. According to the San Antonio Express News, while she was on the ground, Vyas attacked the child, causing serious physical injury. When police arrived, they found that Vyas had been restrained by a witness who had intervened after witnessing the attack.Pérez has spoken out about the attack and released a photo of her injured daughter in a GoFundMe post, asking for help against targeted attacks. She said her daughter has lost two teeth and apart from physical injuries, the girl is in extreme emotional distress. “Since the attack, my daughter has needed constant care, comfort, and reassurance. She is unable to be with anyone else, so I have had to take time off from work to be with her,” the mother wrote.The Department of Homeland Security traced Vyas and found that he had entered the country on a student visa in August 2023. “Just three months after his entry, he was arrested on the University of Texas campus on felony charges. University of Texas Police contacted ICE. And yet, the Biden administration determined that this offense was not “serious” enough to warrant visa revocation and decided not to take any enforcement action against Vyas,” DHS said in a statement, blaming the Biden administration for not taking earlier action against a known criminal.The department said Vyas’ student visa was revoked by the Trump administration in April 2025 due to his previous arrest. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Biss said, “This criminal illegal alien brutally bit this child and broke two of his teeth. This barbaric attack against this woman and her three-year-old child at the park was completely preventable.” “The Biden administration should never have released this animal after arresting it on attack charges. “We are working with our partners in Texas to ensure that these criminal illegal aliens can never again move freely in American communities.”
