FIRST ON FOX: The Ron DeSantis presidential campaign slammed the Biden administration in a statement to Fox News Digital in response to reports that an 11-year-old girl was tied up and sexually assaulted by several men in a Minnesota home where 11 illegal immigrants were housed.
"This story is heartbreaking, and sadly one that is becoming all too familiar in Joe Biden's America," Carly Atchison, national spokeswoman for the DeSantis campaign, told Fox News Digital this week.
The campaign was reacting to a story out of Bemidji, Minnesota, where Oscar Ernesto Luna, 22, and three other men were arrested after police say they tied up and raped an 11-year-old girl, Fox 9 Minneapolis reported.
According to a Facebook post from the Bemidji Police Department, 11 other people found at Luna’s home during the execution of a search warrant were arrested, handed over to Border Patrol and processed for illegally entering the country.
NEARLY 17 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN THE US, 16% INCREASE SINCE 2021: ANALYSIS
A report from KARE 11, an NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, stated that the young girl suffered "severe injuries" and said a person she referred to as "auntie" forced her into a car, and she was brought to a home where several men tied her up and raped her.
There were reportedly at least two other girls also tied up in the home, and one of those girls is said to have helped her escape.
Luna faces a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge, which carries up to 30 years in prison if found guilty, and he makes his first court appearance on Oct. 9.
HAWLEY INTRODUCES BILL TO HELP KEY BORDER STATES FIGHT BACK AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
"There is a real human cost of having an open border, and we cannot afford another four years of failed, weak leadership," Atchison said. "President Ron DeSantis will shut down the border, stop the invasion, build the wall, and protect American families starting Day One. No excuses, he will get the job done."
DeSantis, the current Republican governor of Florida, has made combating illegal immigration a central part of his campaign and recently pledged to work to deport every illegal immigrant who entered the country under President Biden's watch, a number he estimates is around 6 or 7 million.
Fox News Digital reported in March that the number of convicted criminal illegal immigrants deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dropped significantly during the Biden administration.
Additionally, migrant encounters at the southern border hit an all-time record in September, Fox News has learned, with a massive 260,000 encounters as border officials struggle to cope with a historic crisis.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
