U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an immigration detainer for Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad, a 31-year-old Egyptian national charged in Nashville with aggravated rape, aggravated burglary and aggravated assault. Nashville police say Awad was arrested at a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, after investigators tracked him there following an alleged New Year’s Eve assault of a 16-year-old girl.
Metro Nashville Police say a 16-year-old girl reported being sexually assaulted in her Millwood Drive apartment on the morning of Dec. 31, 2025.
According to a Metropolitan Nashville Police Department media release, detectives allege that Mena Awad, 31, entered the victim’s unlocked apartment around 7 a.m. and assaulted her in her bedroom. Police said the teen told investigators she did not know the suspect and reported he was carrying a gun and a knife.
Police sought public help locating Awad in early January. Nashville police later said he was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, where officers found him at a hotel after Metro Nashville detectives developed information indicating he had traveled there. Police said his return to Nashville was pending at the time of the announcement.
The Daily Wire reported that ICE lodged an immigration detainer after Awad’s arrest and that Awad is an Egyptian national who entered the United States in 2017 through the Diversity Visa (“green card lottery”) program. The outlet also reported that he later lost lawful immigration status after a criminal conviction.
Separately, the Trump administration paused the Diversity Immigrant Visa program in December 2025, following a high-profile shooting case in which authorities said a suspect had obtained permanent residency through the lottery. The Department of Homeland Security has said the pause is intended to allow review of vetting and program safeguards.
In a statement to The Daily Wire, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized the diversity lottery and said ICE filed the detainer to prevent Awad’s release while the criminal case proceeds.
Awad’s charges in Nashville include aggravated rape, aggravated burglary and aggravated assault, according to police and court filings cited by local media. The allegations have not been proven in court.
