Virginia migrant crime surge sparks debate over sanctuary policies
Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino discussed rising concerns over migrant-related crime in Virginia, where illegal immigrants are facing serious allegations, including sexual offenses. Griff Jenkins detailed recent Fairfax County cases involving Israel Flores Ortiz and Angel David Rubio Moran, while Josh Holmes criticized Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s executive order ending cooperation with ICE, arguing it has intensified debate over sanctuary policies and public safety across the commonwealth.
Federal immigration authorities have issued a detainer for a Honduran national accused of trying to take a police officer’s weapon during an encounter in Northern Virginia.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is urging Fairfax County officials to keep Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas in custody after authorities said he ambushed a Fairfax County police officer on Tuesday.
The Department of Homeland Security said officers were called to Annandale after receiving a report that a man had left a home following an argument and was allegedly carrying two knives.
Body camera footage from a Fairfax County police officer shows the encounter with Nehemia Noel Fuentes-Banegas, who is accused of trying to disarm the officer in Annandale, Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Fairfax County police said the man had also stabbed himself before leaving the residence and running into a nearby wooded area.
While officers searched the woods, Fuentes-Banegas allegedly came out of the brush, grabbed an officer’s gun and tried to disarm him, according to DHS.
Police said one officer fired his service weapon as another officer deployed a department-issued Taser at the same time. Fuentes-Banegas was grazed in the shoulder by the bullet, authorities 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.
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.”
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 News Outlet.
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)
News Outlet has reached out to Spanberger’s office for comment.
