FIRST ON FOX: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is blasting local officials in Virginia after the agency says it arrested an illegal immigrant convicted of child rape who was released back onto the streets by local officials.
On Friday, ICE says it arrested Guatemalan national Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia after an appearance in Fairfax County court following his June arrest on felony charges of rape of a child less than 13 years of age, aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13 years of age, use of a computer to commit sex offense with a minor, and distributing drugs to a minor.
ICE had lodged a detainer after his arrest in June asking the county not to release Garcia but, according to an ICE press release, “sanctuary politicians refused to cooperate with ICE” and Garcia was “allowed to leave court without ICE being notified.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement placing the blame at the feet of local officials in Virginia, as well as with Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
“Governor Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Fairfax, Virginia refused to cooperate with ICE and RELEASED this child rapist from jail back onto the streets,” Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“This criminal illegal alien from Guatemala has been charged with raping a child under 13, aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13, and distributing drugs to a minor. Thanks to our brave law enforcement, this sicko is out of our communities. Governor Spanberger and Fairfax sanctuary politicians are playing Russian roulette with American lives by releasing criminals from jail into American neighborhoods.”
DHS says Garcia was released by Fairfax County and appeared for his court date on his own. The agency added that he was then arrested inside the courthouse but outside the courtroom without assistance from locals.
Garcia first entered the country illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, during the Biden administration in 2023, the agency says, and was released into the country. In February 2025, a Virginia immigration judge issued a final order of removal for Garcia.
In a press release, DHS referred to the situation as a “Sanctuary Calamity.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office and officials in Fairfax County for comment.
The Garcia case is the latest in a string of high-profile incidents cited by DHS and immigration enforcement advocates in Fairfax County in recent months as examples of sanctuary jurisdiction policies putting citizens in danger.
In April, ICE arrested Roni Mendez-Escobar, another Guatemalan national, after Fairfax County authorities had previously released him despite charges of possessing and intending to distribute child pornography, according to DHS.
That same month, authorities charged Misael Lopez Gomez, also from Guatemala, with murder and felony child abuse in the death of his 3-month-old daughter.
Earlier in the year, Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy was charged with second-degree murder after a fatal stabbing, and Abdul Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national with a lengthy arrest record, was charged in the stabbing death of a Virginia woman at a bus stop.
The cases have intensified scrutiny of Fairfax County’s policies and fueled broader political clashes over immigration enforcement in Virginia, an issue expected to remain front and center ahead of upcoming elections.
While Spanberger has repeatedly said Virginia is not a sanctuary state, a state that prevents local law enforcement from partnering with federal immigration enforcement efforts, Spanberger rescinded local-federal coordination requirements as one of her first actions as governor.
She argued that Virginia’s resources would be better spent enforcing its own laws.
“Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” Spanberger said in a press release.
During a press gaggle last month, Spanberger said it is an “absolute lie” that state and local police are unwilling to work with federal agencies, including ICE.
At the same time, conservatives have pointed to her as the face of an immigration standard in the commonwealth that Fox News Digital reported last month has alarmed some citizens, while sparking criticism from the Trump administration as well.
President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, sat down sat down with Fox News Digital for an exclusive interview in April, where he said if Spanberger is unwilling to cooperate with federal law enforcement, the border czar is willing to “send more teams into the streets.”
“Elections have consequences,” Homan explained. “[Spanberger] ran on a law enforcement position that she was a career law enforcement person. [She] is a much different person now since she’s in that governor’s slot.”
Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid and Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steven Descano have also faced blowback over the illegal immigrant violence in Virginia and will soon voluntarily testify at an upcoming Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Subcommittee hearing entitled “Fairfax County Virginia – The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary City Policies.”
Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno, Charlie Creitez, and Preston Mizell contributed to this report.
