A rideshare driver who entered the United States illegally and was released by the Biden administration now faces first-degree rape charges in Maryland, despite a prior sex abuse arrest in New York City that apparently didn't trigger deportation proceedings. Abdoulaye Dia, a citizen of Guinea living in Lanham, Maryland, was arrested Wednesday following allegations he sexually assaulted an underage passenger.
Montgomery County Police responded Tuesday to a hospital where a teenage girl reported being raped by her Empower rideshare driver. She told investigators Dia drove her to a parking lot in Silver Spring, where the assault occurred. Police identified Dia through information from the rideshare app and took him into custody the following day.
The Prior Arrest
Department of Homeland Security records reveal Dia was arrested June 10 in New York City on charges including sexual abuse by forcible compulsion, forcible touching of sexual or intimate parts of another person, injuring a child under 17, and sexual abuse without consent. That arrest occurred three months before the Maryland incident. Despite this criminal history, Dia remained in the country and continued working as a rideshare driver.
DHS confirmed Dia entered the United States illegally through Arizona in December 2023. He was released by the Biden administration rather than detained or deported.
Background Check Failure
Empower, the rideshare company, stated all its drivers undergo comprehensive screening including background checks, sex offender registry searches, motor vehicle records, Social Security traces, and vetting against a global watchlist shared with Uber and Lyft through the same screening provider. The company said background checks on Dia were conducted July 16, two months ago, and "did not reveal any incidents."
That assertion raises questions about how a June arrest in New York failed to appear in a July background check. The screening apparently missed both the recent criminal charges and Dia's illegal immigration status.
Montgomery County Police contacted Empower after the assault report, and the company said it immediately provided all requested information to investigators.
The Charges
Dia now faces first-degree rape, kidnapping, second-degree assault, and third-degree sex offense charges in Maryland. The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed his illegal status and prior arrest record.
Empower's statement emphasized its screening protocols match industry standards used by major competitors. The company didn't address why those protocols failed to detect Dia's June arrest or immigration violations. Fox News reached out to Empower for additional comment.
Why This Matters:
This case exposes critical failures at multiple levels of public safety infrastructure. An illegal immigrant with a recent sex abuse arrest history passed a commercial background check and gained access to vulnerable passengers through a rideshare platform. The Biden administration's catch-and-release border policy allowed Dia to remain in the country after illegal entry, while local authorities in New York apparently didn't notify federal immigration enforcement after his June arrest. The background check system that rideshare companies rely on failed to detect a three-month-old arrest, raising questions about database coordination between law enforcement agencies and private screening services. When government immigration enforcement is lax and screening systems don't communicate effectively, the burden of failed policy falls directly on citizens who assume basic safety protocols are functioning.