Pelosi attack suspect David DePape the latest high-profile crime involving an illegal immigrant

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Paul Pelosi attacker faces another day in court, officials reviewing security protocols after attack

Fox News’ Claudia Cowan reports on updates in the Paul Pelosi attack as the suspected attacker faces another day in court Friday and officials investigate security failings leading up to the attack.

The man accused of assaulting the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the most recent case of an illegal immigrant accused of a high-profile crime -- just as illegal immigration remains a top issue in the United States.

David DePape, a 42-year-old illegal immigrant from Canada, is accused of breaking into the speaker’s home and attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, allegedly wanting to hold the congresswoman hostage. He is alleged to have threatened to "break her kneecaps" if caught lying. 

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Thursday that DePape entered the U.S. legally across the U.S.-Mexican border on a visitors visa in 2008 via the U.S.-Mexican border. He had come in across on a B2 visa, which typically allows Canadian visitors to stay for six months. He then overstayed that visa.

"[ICE] lodged an immigration detainer on Canadian national David DePape with San Francisco County Jail, Nov. 1, following his Oct. 28 arrest," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

DePape is pleading not guilty to charges of attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder and threats to a public official and her family.

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He allegedly broke into the multi-million-dollar Pelosi home in California last week. Police say he brought zip-ties into the home and attempted to restrain Paul Pelosi, asking, "Where is Nancy?"

By allegedly attacking the husband of the House Speaker, DePape is now one of a number of illegal immigrants who have been accused of or involved in high-profile crimes that have caught the nation’s attention in recent months.

Rape of 10-year-old girl in Ohio

Over the summer, amid a national debate about abortion, a story emerged in Ohio of a 10-year-old who had been raped and who then allegedly had to cross state lines to Indiana to get an abortion due to Ohio’s strict abortion restrictions.

It was cited by proponents of abortion access, who highlighted it as an example of the consequences of access being limited. The story was eventually echoed by President Biden in a speech as he announced measures to protect abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade.

Gerson Fuentes, 27, has been charged with rape of a minor under 13 in Ohio. (Franklin County Sheriff's Office)

"Ten years old. Raped, six weeks pregnant. Already traumatized. Was forced to travel to another state. Imagine being that little girl," Biden said.

OHIO 10-YEAR-OLD'S ALLEGED RAPIST IS GUATEMALAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: ICE

It later emerged that the suspect, Gerson Fuentes, is a Guatemalan illegal immigrant and had reportedly confessed to raping a child on multiple occasions. ICE said it had issued a detainer on Fuentes, who had no previous immigration history.

Las Vegas stabbing suspect

The suspect accused of killing two people and injuring six others in a stabbing rampage last month is a Guatemalan illegal immigrant with a pre-existing criminal record in California. 

Yoni Barrios, 32, is accused of stabbing eight people on the sidewalk near the Wynn Las Vegas hotel. Barrios allegedly began his rampage after a group of showgirls refused to take a picture with him. He reportedly used what authorities described as a "large knife with a long blade" and began attacking when they rebuffed him.

Barrios is charged with two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.

LAS VEGAS STABBING SUSPECT IS IN US ILLEGALLY, HAS CRIMINAL RECORD IN CALIFORNIA: SOURCE

The man accused of stabbing six people and killing two during an unprovoked attack along the Las Vegas Strip appeared in court on Oct. 11, 2022. (Courtesy of KVVU-TV, Fox5 Vegas)

Hit-and-run of Florida Deputy

Fox News reported in September that a man arrested in the death of a Florida’s sheriff’s deputy -- and who is alleged to have hit him with a car and then fled the scene -- is in the country illegally.

Juan Ariel Molina-Salles, 32, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident after the hit-and-run death of Pinellas County sheriff's deputy Michael Hartwick, a 19-year veteran who left behind two adult sons. 

FLORIDA DEPUTY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN HIT-AND-RUN BEFORE FLEEING SCENE, SHERIFF SAYS

After striking Hartwick, Molina-Salles allegedly kept going and told another construction worker he had just killed a deputy. He then took off his construction hat and traffic vest and allegedly handed it to the worker and told him to hide it. 

Juan Molina-Salles, an illegal immigrant living in the Unites States, fatally struck Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hartwick with a construction vehicle and fled the scene, authorities said.  (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office) (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office)

A local sheriff says he was using a fake name & fled the scene after running over the deputy who was guarding workers in a construction zone.

Molina-Sallas is believed to have crossed illegally into Eagle Pass, Texas in 2021, was expelled back to Mexico, and then crossed illegally again at some point without apprehension, making him one of the hundreds of thousands of "gotaways" who have slipped past Border Patrol.

Molina-Salles allegedly admitted to authorities that he illegally came back into the U.S. through Texas and has been in the Tampa area since March. 

Florida looters after Hurricane Ian

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Floridians were angered at looters who attempted to take advantage of the destruction -- including a number who were in the country illegally.

Authorities in Lee County identified three of four looters arrested and who were in the country illegally.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference to update information about the on ongoing efforts to help people after hurricane Ian passed through the area on October 4, 2022 in Cape Coral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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It drew the ire of the county sheriff, who declared: "I’m not tolerating it again." It also was highlighted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a press conference.

"These are people that are foreigners. They are illegally in our country, and not only that, they try to loot and ransack in the aftermath of a natural disaster. They should be prosecuted, but they need to be sent back to their home country," he said in an Oct. 4 news conference.

Fox News' Bill Melugin, Stephen Sorace and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.