EXCLUSIVE: Immigration has become a defining issue in Virginia, as voters weigh which candidates will best protect their families after Homeland Security told Fox News Digital that several of the "worst of the worst" offenders were arrested in the state this week.
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee, has attested to be the candidate who is focused on protecting Virginians, while Democratic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger has pointed to her curriculum vitae as a federal agent when pressed on law-and-order issues.
In the most high-profile of the arrests, DHS announced the capture of El Salvador's most wanted MS-13 leader, who was also among its most wanted fugitives overall.
Ismael Enrique Mendoza Flores, known as "El Calaco" (The Skeleton), was wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide and illicit associations - and he was previously charged in the U.S. with unauthorized use of a vehicle.
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ICE arrested Flores in Alexandria, citing an active arrest warrant from San Salvador. He has a previous arrest in Virginia for unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Flores allegedly told authorities he entered the U.S. under the Obama administration, to which DHS said they will not let the "Democrats' government shutdown prevent" law enforcement from securing the border at this point in time.
"This MS-13 gang member was wanted for murder. These are the types of criminal illegal aliens that sanctuary politicians across Virginia are protecting as they demonize law enforcement," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
"President Trump and Secretary Noem are not going to allow gang members to terrorize American citizens."
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Speaking on the captures writ-large, McLaughlin added that politicians for too long have allowed violent foreign criminals to victimize innocent Americans through lax border policies.
DHS also secured detainers for two juveniles whose speeding on northbound I-295 near the Chickahominy River east of Richmond drew the attention of Hanover County police.
The speeding BMW's occupants were reported to have been firing guns as they raced toward the Henrico County line. A Hanover deputy who had pulled over another motorist spotted the car and chased it. Reports said the two youths later crashed the car off Mechanicsville Turnpike approaching the Richmond city line.
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Sent to a juvenile detention center in Williamsburg, the youths faced several charges when DHS intervened, with McLaughlin telling Fox News Digital they had been released as "unvetted" migrants by the Biden administration.
"ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure these public safety threats are not released back onto Virginia's roads," she said.
A convicted pedophile from Guatemala was also netted in DHS' operations in the Old Dominion.
Rick Martinez-Lopez's rap sheet in the commonwealth includes sexual assault of a child, failure to register as a sex offender and a probation violation.
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Richmond's city jail had told DHS they would not honor a detainer placed on Martinez-Lopez in August - and instead released the child predator.
ICE later caught up with him, the department said, with McLaughlin slamming the former capital of the Confederacy's officials for allowing the pedophile to "freely roam."
"[It] is barbaric," she said. "It is unconscionable to think sanctuary policies and political activists would rather protect this sicko than our own nation's children. Every sanctuary politician in Virginia is putting the safety of Americans at risk with their dangerous and lawless policies."
Another violent illegal immigrant, Ricardo Leonel Mejia of El Salvador, had been convicted of repeated rape of an 11-year-old Virginia child.
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He was arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison before DHS intervened and sought their own detention.
McLaughlin said Mejia had been marked a "non-enforcement priority" by the Biden administration, which allowed him to remain out on the streets.
Mejia had been hired to renovate the bathroom of a Virginia Beach home, during which time he raped a young girl three times.
Mejia claimed in court he was "experiencing hard times" and was "sorry for the pain [the girl] is going through."
Earle-Sears, who once represented the resort town in the House of Delegates in the 2000s, said she was "sickened beyond belief" at the case.
Fox News Digital reached out to both campaigns for further comment on the arrests and their prominence ahead of the November election.
