Virginia migrant crime surge sparks debate over sanctuary policies
Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino address the migrant crime surge in Virginia, as illegal immigrants face serious charges, including sexual offenses. Griff Jenkins reports on cases in Fairfax County, involving Israel Flores Ortiz and Angel David Rubio Moran. Josh Holmes critiques Governor Abigail Spanberger’s executive order, which ended cooperation with ICE, exacerbating tensions over sanctuary policies and their impact on public safety in the commonwealth.
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Federal immigration officials have lodged a detainer against a Honduran national accused of attempting to disarm a police officer during an encounter in Northern Virginia.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is asking Fairfax County officials not to release Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas after authorities said he ambushed a Fairfax County police officer Tuesday.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), officers responded to a report of a man who left a home in Annandale following an argument while allegedly armed with two knives.
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A Fairfax County police officer’s body camera captures the encounter with Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas, who is accused of attempting to disarm the officer in Annandale, Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Fairfax County police said the man also stabbed himself before leaving the residence and fleeing into a nearby wooded area.
As officers searched a wooded area, Fuentes-Banegas allegedly emerged from the brush, grabbed an officer’s firearm and attempted to disarm the officer, DHS said.
Fairfax County police said one officer fired his service weapon while a second officer simultaneously deployed a department-issued Taser. The bullet grazed Fuentes-Banegas’ shoulder, police said.
Fuentes-Banegas was arrested and charged with attempted disarming of a law enforcement officer. ICE has lodged a detainer requesting that Fairfax County notify federal authorities before his release.
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Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas is accused of attempting to disarm a Fairfax County police officer during an encounter in Northern Virginia, according to authorities. Federal immigration officials have lodged a detainer seeking his transfer to ICE custody. (Fairfax County Police Department)
According to DHS, Fuentes-Banegas entered the United States illegally through Texas in 2022 and was later released under the Biden administration.
“This criminal illegal alien from Honduras attacked a law enforcement officer and attempted to take the officer’s gun,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“He has now been charged with attempted disarming of a law enforcement officer,” she continued. “ICE is calling on Governor Abigail Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this dangerous criminal from jail.”
DHS blamed Virginia’s sanctuary policies for limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities, arguing they have made the commonwealth “a magnet for illegal alien crime.”
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER’S VIRGINIA A ‘HOTBED’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME, DHS SAYS AFTER LATEST RAPE CHARGE
Two knives were recovered during the arrest of Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas, who is accused of attempting to disarm a Fairfax County police officer in Annandale, Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
The department noted that Spanberger signed executive orders at the start of her administration ending former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 287(g) agreements and limiting state cooperation with ICE.
“Under Governor Spanberger, Virginia has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime,” DHS said.
DHS also pointed to the recent arrest of Raul Genesis Ortiz Moran, a Mexican national charged with second-degree murder and aggravated sexual battery in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl in Louisa County.
“This horrific tragedy was completely avoidable because this illegal alien should have never been in our country. Governor Spanberger’s sanctuary policies have made Virginia a hotbed for illegal alien crime,” DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis previously told Fox News Digital.
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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has been criticized by the Department of Homeland Security over the state’s immigration policies following the arrest of a Honduran national in Fairfax County. (Mike Kropf/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Spanberger’s office for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.