ICE asks Kentucky officials to hold previously deported man charged with rape while working as landlord

Federal immigration officials are asking a Kentucky jail to hold an illegal immigrant charged with rape, human trafficking and sexual abuse while working as a landlord, so he can be taken into custody for deportation proceedings.

Rolando Cenobio Vasquez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested on July 29 by Louisville police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.

Vasquez had been renting out a room to a mother and her 15-year-old daughter when he began abusing the teenager in December 2025, authorities said.

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“ICE has lodged a detainer asking officials in Louisville, Kentucky to not release this criminal from jail, and to hand him over to ICE custody so he can be removed from our country,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said.

Vasquez allegedly threatened the mother and child, but occasionally offered the teenager money to keep quiet about the sexual abuse, authorities said.

He is charged with three counts of rape, three counts of sodomy, human trafficking, promoting human trafficking with a victim under 18 and sexual abuse.

Vasquez’s criminal history includes a prior conviction for driving under the influence of liquor. ICE lodged a detainer with the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections the same day he was arrested.

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Vasquez initially entered the United States illegally in August 2013 through Texas, DHS said. He was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol and deported.

It was not clear when he illegally re-entered the U.S., according to DHS.

Louisville is not a sanctuary jurisdiction. In July 2025, the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections agreed to follow a federal law requiring inmates in custody be held for up to 48 hours on what are called immigration detainers.