An illegal immigrant who was out on the streets after Fairfax County authorities refused to turn him over to ICE now stands accused of killing another man.
Marvin Morales-Ortez, who has been linked with the MS-13 gang, had been in the county jail until Tuesday, when charges were dropped and he was released — despite a deportation detainer request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that he be turned over to them.
A day later, on Wednesday, local police nabbed Mr. Morales-Ortez in connection with the slaying of a man inside a home in Reston.
“Fairfax County failed the victim by refusing to work with ICE and releasing this criminal alien onto Virginia streets instead of safely into ICE custody,” ICE said in a statement to local media. “If Fairfax County would have simply worked to uphold our nation’s laws, then this tragedy may have never happened.”
Mr. Morales-Ortez had been facing charges of brandishing a gun and assaulting and injuring someone.
The county commonwealth’s attorney didn’t comment to The Washington Times for this story but said in a statement reported by WJLA-TV that a witness was out of the country and would miss court proceedings.
“Without the victim’s necessary testimony, we could not move forward with the case,” the office said.
Police radio traffic during the search for Mr. Morales-Ortez suggests he has MS-13 connections, and WJLA reported that court records also back up that claim.
The county sheriff’s office, which runs the jail, didn’t respond to an inquiry.
After his release from jail, the county police department tried to take him into custody again on a medical order. Police said they went to the address they had on file but didn’t locate Mr. Morales-Ortez.
Sean Kennedy, president of Virginians for Safe Communities and member of the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Advisory Board, said county officials “have blood on their hands.”
“Fairfax County leaders didn’t make a mistake, they abetted murder through gross negligence and malign hubris,” he told The Times. “The local Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano has a policy to reward criminal aliens by dropping or reducing charges to avoid immigration consequences while the county officials actively protect foreign criminals from ICE.”
The incident is the latest in a string of high-profile cases where Fairfax County has refused to honor ICE detainer requests for illegal immigrants.
County officials have engaged in a circular firing squad of blame.
Sheriff Stacey Kincaid’s defenders say she would like to be of more help but is constrained by the county’s Board of Supervisors. They also blame the county commonwealth’s attorney for refusing to pursue cases, leaving dangerous people free to go.
In one incident from May, after a judge rejected two attempts to broker a weak plea deal for a man accused of child kidnapping, Mr. Descano, the commonwealth’s attorney, dropped the charges altogether.
Mr. Descano blamed “evidentiary issues,” even though a judge said the fact that the migrant’s fingerprints were found on the window was at least good enough to get a burglary conviction.
ICE in that case swooped in and arrested the migrant.
Fairfax County has gained a reputation as one of the most prominent sanctuary jurisdictions.
The Center for Immigration Studies, using ICE data, said the county jail ranked third in the nation in terms of declining to cooperate on detainer requests.
“Fairfax County has been an egregious sanctuary jurisdiction for quite some time,” said Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the center. “This latest case is the worst-case scenario all over again, with someone in the country illegally who’s been arrested multiple times for some serious offenses, who gets released despite an ICE detainer, and within 24 hours actually carries out a murder.”
Mr. Morales-Ortez had a lengthy list of run-ins with police, including a first-degree murder charge, later dropped after authorities said he wasn’t the perpetrator.
Ms. Vaughan said the worst penalty he appears to have faced during his run-ins was a fine.
“He’s been caught and released without paying any consequences for anything,” she said. “Reviewing his criminal history, you can see why he wouldn’t be deterred by any law enforcement.”
The Justice Department does not have Fairfax County on its list of sanctuary jurisdictions.
County officials insist they are in compliance with the strictures of federal immigration law, though its “Trust Policy” blocks county authorities from offering cooperation.
ICE over the years has highlighted troubling cases where the county refused to cooperate in turning over people from its jail.
That included a string of cases where illegal immigrants were accused of sex crimes against young teens, and a case last year where the county repeatedly refused detainer requests for a Venezuelan man with an arrest record that included hit-and-run, firearms crimes and malicious wounding.
