A major blue county in Virginia is facing additional scrutiny after it repeatedly released a violent Salvadoran illegal alien despite 10 arrests and 19 criminal charges, including for malicious shooting, unlawful wounding, and assault and battery.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Jorge Armando Melendez-Gonzalez, 27, after Fairfax County, Va., officials refused to honor an ICE immigration detainer and released him back into the community.
“He is exactly the kind of criminal alien offender that ICE detainers protect the members of our communities against,” said ICE ERO Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russell Hott.
It’s yet another example of sanctuary policies that protect illegal aliens while putting everyday Americans in jeopardy, blatantly disregarding U.S. immigration law.
In Fairfax County, the district attorney doesn’t discriminate in his soft-on-crime policies. Crime victims and survivors have repeatedly spoken out about how the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office has failed to prosecute cases or bring them justice.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican who fell short of reelection in Tuesday’s election, has also called out Fairfax County’s top prosecutor Steve Descano and his “entire pattern of failure.”
“Victims’ pain is not political,” Miyares posted on X. “But to Steve Descano, that’s all it will ever be.”
Victims’ pain is not political.
But to Steve Descano, that’s all it will ever be. pic.twitter.com/o3HngH1yPC
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) September 30, 2025
In this latest case, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers from Washington, D.C. tracked Melendez-Gonzalez down and arrested him on Oct. 24, in Fairfax, Va., after Fairfax County officials refused to honor ICE’s July 18 immigration detainer and released him.
ICE said in a news release that Melendez-Gonzalez is a “career criminal with a propensity toward violence.”
Melendez-Gonzalez’s lengthy rap sheet includes arrests for three counts of malicious shooting, unlawful wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, assault and battery, assault on a family member, grand larceny, trespassing, possessing a false government identification, orderly conduct, public intoxication, disturbing the peace and making a false statement to a law enforcement officer.
Melendez-Gonzalez has been in the country illegally for a decade and had an order of removal from an immigration judge. Despite his criminal history, Fairfax County refused to honor ICE detainers and continually released him from custody.
“When sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to honor ICE detainers, they only endanger the people they purport to protect,” Hott said. “ICE will continue to prioritize the safety of our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities by arresting and removing such criminal alien offenders from our streets.”
Fox News Digital attempted to seek comment from Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano, a Democrat, for the reason for Melendez-Gonzalez’s sentence being suspended.
According to ICE records, U.S. Border Patrol arrested Melendez-Gonzalez after he illegally entered the United States on June 22, 2015.
A Justice Department immigration judge ordered Melendez-Gonzalez removed from the United States to El Salvador on Oct. 4, 2016; however, Melendez-Gonzalez refused to leave the country.
Instead, he discovered he could keep committing crimes, racking up a long list of offenses in Virginia. He was arrested 10 times and charged with 19 different crimes between March 19, 2018, and July 18, 2025, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
But Fairfax County disregarded public safety and let him go. ICE lodged two immigration detainers with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center against Melendez-Gonzalez, one on Aug. 28, 2023, and another on July 18, 2025.
“Virginia sanctuary politicians protected this criminal illegal alien and allowed him to terrorize American citizens,” said Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. “These sanctuary policies make Virginians less safe.”
A spokesperson for the attorney’s office declined to comment, referring Fox Digital to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, which, the spokesperson said, “is responsible for handling ICE detainers.”
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, which runs the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, told Fox News Digital that the office did not have a judicial warrant on file for Melendez-Gonzalez for either of those dates, adding “the sheriff’s office could not maintain custody over Mr. Melendez-Gonzalez.”
Fox News Digital previously reported on another high-profile immigration arrest that went viral on social media in August — another criminal illegal alien from Fairfax County who was walking free.
Mexican national David Perez-Teofani tried to flee when officers approached his vehicle before being tackled to the ground, according to the video from an NBC Washington reporter.
DHS said he was arrested in Washington, D.C., and wanted on child sex crime charges. McLaughlin clarified that Perez-Teofani entered the country illegally three times, had a final order of removal and was arrested in Fairfax County in January.
“Yes this illegal alien from Mexico was previously arrested in January 2024 in Fairfax County for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13. Glad he is off of Washington DC’s streets thanks to [President] Trump, [Noem] and [ICE],” she posted to X.
Meanwhile, the top Fairfax County official has refuted DHS’s characterization of it as a sanctuary county.
Fairfax County Chairman Jeffrey McKay, also a Democrat, responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, saying, “Fairfax County, through the Board of Supervisors, does not control or make decisions regarding ICE detainers or judicial sentencing; those responsibilities fall to the sheriff and the courts, respectively.”
McKay said Fairfax County “does not consider itself a sanctuary jurisdiction and continues to follow all applicable federal and state laws.”
However, Descano is known for implementing progressive reforms such as a diversion program for non-violent crimes and ending cash bail.
This is the same county that made national headlines after Fairfax County’s District Attorney Descano refused to charge a sex offender who claimed to be a trans woman after reports that he exposed himself to women and children in public locker rooms in Fairfax County and neighboring Arlington County, Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” reported.
The suspect, Richard Cox, was only charged in Arlington County. Police confronted him after similar complaints were made in Fairfax County but he was not charged. Details from the Arlington trial revealed he had Fairfax County children’s swim classes along with child pornography on his phone.
Virginia AG Miyares also took to X to speak on that case, saying “Let’s be clear — Richard Cox was hunting little girls in Fairfax County. What is it going to take for Descano to do his job?”
Let’s be clear — Richard Cox was hunting little girls in Fairfax County.
What is it going to take for Descano to do his job? https://t.co/CMzjpsJ7xy
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) September 30, 2025
