An Obama-appointed judge in Michigan has come under fire from the Trump administration and conservatives on social media for sparing an illegal immigrant who raped a disabled woman another two years in prison and openly praising him.
Edys Renan Membreno Diaz, a Honduran national who entered the United States at least seven separate times, was convicted for raping and sodomizing a disabled woman suffering from cerebral palsy and cognitive delays in the laundry room of her apartment building. He was sentenced in 2022.
The judge referred to Diaz as an “ambassador for living up to our immigration restrictions,” additionally praising him for his “family devotion and willingness to perform work that it claimed Americans find undesirable.”
The illegal immigrant is set to be released by July 2028 after a federal judge declined to impose an additional two-year sentence related to his illegal entry into the U.S., not the sex crime.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the ruling reflected “unspeakable depravity” on the judge’s part.
“U.S. District Judge Judith Levy refused to sentence him to 2 more years for immigration crimes and called this monster a future ‘ambassador for living up to our immigration restrictions,'” McLaughlin said on X, citing a report from a Detroit newspaper. “This Obama appointed judge went on to praise him for ‘family devotion and willingness to perform work that it claimed Americans find undesirable.'”
“Truly wicked,” she added.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan is appealing Diaz’s lenient sentence, so that he can receive a stronger punishment. Prosecutors argued the judge made several mistakes and found her reasoning odd for rejecting the enhanced sentence.
Oddly, the judge commended the defendant for taking responsibility by serving his sentence for the sex crime. The immigration crime would have landed him 19 more months in prison.
Judge Levy, the first openly lesbian federal judge in Michigan, was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2014.
The judge also garnered criticism from Kevin Kijewski, a Republican candidate for Michigan attorney general in 2026.
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“This isn’t justice; it’s judicial activism prioritizing criminals over citizens and spitting on federal law enforcement’s work to secure our borders under President Trump’s leadership,” Kijewski said.
“Michiganders deserve an Attorney General who stands with victims, supports ICE in deporting dangerous offenders, and ends lenient treatment for lawbreakers,” he added. “Radical left policies have made our state a haven for lawlessness, but that’s changing next year.”
