Virginia has seen a new wave of violent crimes blamed on illegal immigrants as debate over “sanctuary” policies continues across the country and in parts of the state.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to Fox News that a suspect arrested in Virginia on Sunday for hijacking and killing a grandmother is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador.
Jose Aguilar Martinez, 21, is charged in Sunday’s fatal shooting that resulted in the death of his grandmother, 54-year-old Melody Waldecker. Fox 5DC report.
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Melody Waldecker and Jose Aguilar Martinez (Handouts)
According to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Aguilar-Martinez is accused of carjacking Waldecker on July 28. Investigators determined she was struck by her vehicle as the suspect fled the scene. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Aguilar-Martinez entered the U.S. as a “fleeing offender,” meaning he entered the country without being apprehended by Border Patrol.
The agency said it has submitted a detention request to local authorities, requesting that the suspect be transferred to ICE custody upon his eventual release from local custody.
In an update, the sheriff’s office said Aguilar-Martinez had a California driver’s license, a sanctuary state with a policy that allows illegal immigrants to obtain licenses.
Illegal immigrant accused of hitting grandmother during carjacking in Virginia
The case follows other crimes in the state allegedly involving immigrants. At least two of the men accused of killing a man in Oakton, Virginia, and leaving his body near a boardwalk are undocumented immigrants. ABC7 No. 7 report.
According to a statement provided to Fox News Digital by ICE, Maudin Anibal Guzman Vides is from Honduras and entered the country in 2018 and was released to the U.S., but received a deportation order in 2019 but remained in the U.S.
Authorities said he has multiple unspent detention orders in Fairfax County. He has a criminal record that includes convictions for assault and burglary. But the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office said: 7News ICE did not send a detention order to the office.
ICE also released a lengthy statement outlining how it will respect state attorneys general’s opinions that detentions are merely requests and that ICE will only honor detentions if it has a judicial warrant.
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“Immigration and Customs Enforcement knows that when they want to detain these criminals, all they need is a court warrant authorizing the arrest. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is notified each time an illegal immigrant is detained. Yet time and again, they make no effort to obtain a warrant that gives them judicial authority to detain. This failure is a failure of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not the sheriff’s office,” the agency said.
“A person’s status as a prisoner or an illegal immigrant does not diminish their right to be free from unlawful seizure or to have their rights to due process or equal protection,” the sheriff wrote.
This has drawn criticism from other state officials, who called the reasoning an “excuse.” According to 7 News, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office has held 725 illegal immigrants in its jails over the past year, but only three were transferred to ICE.
ICE confirmed to Fox News Digital that the second suspect arrested in the case, Wilmer Adalid Guzman-Vides, is an illegal immigrant from Honduras who entered the country illegally in 2022, and was released after receiving a summons. The suspect was arrested in Washington, DC, and ICE filed a detention order with the Washington Police Department.
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Virginia is seen as a potential battleground state, with some polls suggesting a possible victory for former President Trump, and illegal immigration has consistently been cited as a top concern by voters ahead of the 2024 election.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Landon Mion and Luis Casiano contributed to this report.
