Federal immigration officials have slammed a “sanctuary” county near Washington, D.C., for ignoring detention requests and releasing a criminal illegal immigrant convicted of having sex with a child.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 26-year-old El Salvadoran national, Giovanny Alex Pineda Echeverria, in Northern Virginia last month, the agency said in a release Tuesday. press releaseDeportation officials had deported Pineda Echeverria to his home country several years ago, but he later returned to the U.S. and was a fugitive for several months after being convicted of sex crimes against minors in Virginia. (RELATED: Exclusive: ICE arrests convicted sex offender and illegal immigrant who was roaming free in 'sanctuary county')
ICE was forced to make an arrest on the scene after a detention center in Fairfax County, Virginia – a jurisdiction widely considered a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants – reportedly did not honor ICE's detention request and instead released the Salvadoran national into the local community.
“Jean-Obani Alex Pineda Echeverria has not only repeatedly flouted America's immigration laws, but he has also victimized Virginia's children,” Liana Castano, director of ERO's Washington, D.C. field office, said in a statement. “Pineda poses a great threat to Virginia's children, and we cannot allow him to stand by.”
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 6: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents monitor hundreds of asylum seekers entering the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on June 6, 2023. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
“ERO Washington DC will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending and removing the most egregious criminal aliens from our Washington, DC and Virginia communities,” Castano continued.
According to ICE, Pineda was arrested by Fairfax County police in November 2018 and charged with felony sexual contact with a child. He had previously entered the United States illegally at an unknown date and location, making him an unidentified “fugitive.”
Local authorities in Fairfax County transferred Pineda to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that same month, the department said. An immigration judge ordered the undocumented immigrant removed from the United States in March 2019, and deportation officers returned Pineda to his native El Salvador in April 2019.
According to ICE, Pineda returned to the U.S. several years later and was arrested by Border Patrol agents after illegally crossing the border near Texas' Rio Grande Valley in June 2022. Texas authorities, who have now stepped up enforcement of immigration laws, convicted him of illegal reentry after deportation in January 2023 and later extradited him to Fairfax County, Virginia, on an active warrant related to child sexual abuse charges.
On Feb. 27, 2023, the Fairfax County Juvenile and Family Court found Pineda guilty of a misdemeanor count of consensual sexual intercourse with a child and sentenced him to approximately three months in jail, authorities said. ICE filed an immigration detention order against Pineda earlier that year, requiring the agency to hold aliens until deportation officers could arrive and make an arrest, but ICE said the Fairfax Adult Detention Center ignored the request and released Pineda on an unknown date without notifying authorities. (Related article: Ex-White House physician says Trump's immigration chart saved his life)
However, members of an ICE special response team were able to independently arrest Pineda in Woodbridge, Virginia, on June 28, and he remains in ICE custody, the agency said.
Fairfax County Listed The Center for Immigration Studies considers the county a “sanctuary” jurisdiction, citing a 2018 policy enacted by the county sheriff that limits the extent to which local authorities can honor detention requests. websiteBut county officials also acknowledge that they do not enforce civil immigration laws because they believe those laws are the sole responsibility of the federal government.
A few years ago, a Fairfax County police officer was suspended after turning over an illegal immigrant involved in a traffic accident to ICE after it was discovered he had evaded a deportation hearing. The sheriff at the time called the action an “error in judgment” because officers are trained not to cooperate with ICE on such matters.
Since fiscal year 2021, Border Patrol has encountered more than 7 million foreign nationals illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. according to The latest Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. During that period, Border Patrol agents Arrested There are more than 56,000 foreign nationals who are wanted by law enforcement agencies or have already been convicted of crimes.
The Fairfax County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
As an independent, nonpartisan news service, all content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation is available free of charge to any legitimate news publisher with a large readership. All republished articles must include our logo, reporter byline, and affiliation with the DCNF. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
