Federal immigration agents arrested a Honduran man in Northern Virginia earlier this month after local authorities declined to hold him on an immigration detainer despite pending child sex crime charges, according to a Department of Homeland Security news release.
Oscar Evaristo Nunez was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Sept. 15 during what the agency described as a “targeted enforcement operation,” DHS said in a Wednesday statement. He remained in ICE custody pending his immigration proceedings.
The arrest, first reported by The Western Journal, has become the latest flashpoint in the running dispute between federal immigration authorities and Virginia localities that limit cooperation with ICE.
The Charges and the Detainer
According to the DHS release, Nunez was arrested and charged in August 2025 with aggravated sexual battery, two counts of filming or videotaping an undressed minor, and two counts of aggravated sexual battery of a victim under the age of 13.
Two days after that arrest, ICE lodged a detainer with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. The agency says the county refused to honor the request, releasing Nunez without notifying federal authorities.
Nunez’s age was not released. DHS said he entered the United States illegally through the southern border in 2003.
ICE’s Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Robert Guadian called the allegations against Nunez “disgusting and horrifying” and described him as a significant threat to communities across Northern Virginia.
“When local officials refuse to work with ICE and honor our detainers, they are prioritizing politics over the safety of their neighborhoods,” Guadian said. “In this case, they refused to honor our detainer and allowed an alleged child sex predator to potentially re-offend until ICE officers could take him off the streets.”
DHS Turns Up the Heat on Spanberger
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin used the arrest to criticize elected officials in jurisdictions that decline detainer requests, singling out Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
“Another criminal illegal alien has been taken off the streets by the brave men and women of ICE, with no help from sanctuary politicians in Fairfax County,” Mullin said in the release. “This illegal alien from Honduras had been arrested for child sex crimes in August last year, but Fairfax County refused to honor ICE’s detainer and let this creep back out onto the streets.”
Mullin went on to say ICE had “done the job that these heartless sanctuary politicians won’t do,” and called on Spanberger and others to stop prioritizing “the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people.”
The release asserted that “under Governor Spanberger, Virginia has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime,” and attached a list of more than two dozen undocumented immigrants convicted of offenses in the state โ crimes ranging from murder and child pornography to rape and abduction.
Spanberger, a Democrat, made ending state cooperation with ICE a priority early in her administration, framing the shift as a public safety measure. The move drew sharp criticism from Republicans who noted she campaigned as a moderate, and it has continued to generate friction with federal immigration officials.
A Broader Enforcement Push
The Nunez arrest follows a separate ICE announcement on Monday of a wave of high-profile arrests across more than a dozen states. That list, according to the agency, included individuals convicted of murder, drug trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor and child abuse resulting in great bodily injury or death.
Those arrested came from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Micronesia and Nigeria, with cases spanning California, Indiana, Louisiana, Florida, New York, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts. Among the offenses cited were assault and possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, along with convictions for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14.
The Fairfax County case fits a pattern federal officials have pointed to repeatedly in recent months: local jurisdictions declining to hold suspects on ICE detainers after criminal charges are filed, only for federal agents to track the individuals down later. Supporters of the policies say they preserve trust between local police and immigrant communities by preventing local agencies from doing civil immigration work. Critics, including DHS, argue the practice returns potentially dangerous people to the street.
For now, Nunez’s case moves into the immigration system, where he is expected to remain in ICE custody while his proceedings play out. The criminal charges against him and the question of how Fairfax County handled his detention are likely to keep the case in the middle of Virginia’s broader fight over sanctuary policies.
Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com โ https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/virginia-releases-illegal-alien-accused-unthinkable-crimes-children/