The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged a detainer requesting Virginia sanctuary politicians not to release Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas, an illegal alien arrested in Fairfax County for attempting to disarm a police officer.
Fuentes-Banegas, from Honduras, faces a felony charge following an incident on July 28. According to local authorities, police responded to a report of a man armed with two knives in Annandale. While officers searched a wooded area, Fuentes-Banegas reportedly jumped from the brush, grabbed an officer’s firearm, and attempted to disarm the officer. He had illegally entered the United States through Texas in 2022 and was subsequently released into the country by the Biden Administration.
Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said, "This criminal illegal alien from Honduras attacked a law enforcement officer and attempted to take the officer’s gun. He has now been charged with attempted disarming of a law enforcement officer. ICE is calling on Governor Abigail Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this dangerous criminal from jail. Governor Spanberger’s sanctuary policies have made the Commonwealth a magnet for illegal alien crime."
DHS further stated that Governor Spanberger's executive orders, which banned state cooperation with ICE and terminated 287(g) agreements, have contributed to Virginia becoming a "hotbed of illegal alien crime." The department cited numerous other recent arrests and convictions of illegal aliens in Virginia for serious crimes, including murder, sexual assault, child pornography, and abduction, occurring between May and July.