Tomas Espin Tapia illegally entered the United States on October 23, 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration.

Unverifiable

The statement can’t be verified or falsified (e.g., opinion, intent, or unfalsifiable claims). Learn more in Methodology.

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Immigration entry records and custody/release records confirm Tapia's entry date (October 23, 2022) and that he was released into the country by the referenced administration.

Source summary
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem joined ICE officers in a Minneapolis enforcement operation that led to the arrest of Tomas Espin Tapia, whom DHS describes as a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador with active warrants for murder in Ecuador and sexual assault in Connecticut. DHS says Tapia illegally entered the U.S. on October 23, 2022, was released into the country by the Biden administration, and was issued a final order of removal on February 28, 2025 after failing to appear for his immigration hearing. The release also lists dozens of other recent arrests in Minnesota of noncitizens alleged to have serious criminal convictions.
Latest fact check

Available public reporting confirms that U.S. and Ecuadorian authorities identify Tomás Espín Tapia as an Ecuadorian national in an irregular immigration situation in the United States who was arrested in Minneapolis and is wanted in Ecuador for murder, with prior robbery and sexual assault-related allegations. However, no independent primary records accessible to the public—such as court filings, ICE/CBP case documents, or official DHS/ICE data releases separate from the press release being fact-checked—provide verifiable details about the exact date of his entry (October 23, 2022) or the specific circumstances of any prior release into the U.S. by the Biden administration. A Newsmax report explicitly notes that DHS did not immediately release details on Tapia’s immigration timeline, reinforcing the absence of corroborating public evidence on those specific points. Given current information, the precise entry date and whether he was formally released into the country by the Biden administration cannot be confirmed or disproven from independent, authoritative sources.

The verdict is Unverifiable because there is insufficient independent, primary-source evidence in the public record to confirm the claimed October 23, 2022 illegal entry date or the assertion that he was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration, beyond the DHS press communication that is itself the subject of the fact-check.

4 months, 21 days
Next scheduled update: Jul 06, 2026
4 months, 21 days

Timeline

  1. Scheduled follow-up · Jul 06, 2026
  2. Completion due · Jul 06, 2026
  3. Update · Jan 07, 2026, 02:19 AMUnverifiable
    Available public reporting confirms that U.S. and Ecuadorian authorities identify Tomás Espín Tapia as an Ecuadorian national in an irregular immigration situation in the United States who was arrested in Minneapolis and is wanted in Ecuador for murder, with prior robbery and sexual assault-related allegations. However, no independent primary records accessible to the public—such as court filings, ICE/CBP case documents, or official DHS/ICE data releases separate from the press release being fact-checked—provide verifiable details about the exact date of his entry (October 23, 2022) or the specific circumstances of any prior release into the U.S. by the Biden administration. A Newsmax report explicitly notes that DHS did not immediately release details on Tapia’s immigration timeline, reinforcing the absence of corroborating public evidence on those specific points. Given current information, the precise entry date and whether he was formally released into the country by the Biden administration cannot be confirmed or disproven from independent, authoritative sources. The verdict is Unverifiable because there is insufficient independent, primary-source evidence in the public record to confirm the claimed October 23, 2022 illegal entry date or the assertion that he was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration, beyond the DHS press communication that is itself the subject of the fact-check.
  4. Original article · Jan 06, 2026

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