Federal immigration officials arrested an MS-13 gang member in Virginia just weeks before newly sworn-in Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order ending statewide cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Edwin Antonio Hernandez Hernandez, a 27-year-old citizen of El Salvador, was taken into custody in Alexandria after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged his case during the review of immigration applications.
Federal officials said USCIS identified Hernandez’s criminal background during screening related to asylum and work authorization requests and coordinated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which arrested him at a scheduled USCIS appointment.
Hernandez entered the United States illegally in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor, according to DHS. An immigration judge ordered his removal in 2017. While in custody, federal officials said Hernandez admitted to being a member of the MS-13 gang and confessed to involvement in five murders in El Salvador.
Despite the removal order and those admissions, Hernandez later applied for asylum and work authorization. DHS officials said he was granted a work permit and remained in the United States until his arrest earlier this year.
ICE confirmed that Hernandez was arrested approximately two and a half weeks before Gov. Spanberger’s executive order took effect. The order reversed a policy established under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, which had required cooperation between state and local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities.
In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said the arrest highlights the role of interagency cooperation in identifying and apprehending violent offenders unlawfully present in the country. McLaughlin noted that several of the safest cities nationwide maintain cooperation agreements with ICE.
The executive order signed by Spanberger removes the requirement that state and local agencies assist ICE with immigration enforcement, though it does not prohibit voluntary cooperation in all circumstances.
Hernandez remains in federal custody pending removal proceedings.
State officials have not commented on whether the executive order would have affected Hernandez’s arrest had it taken effect earlier.
