Following yet another illegal immigrant being charged with violent crimes in Fairfax County, Virginia, the Department of Homeland Security is once again appealing to Democratic Gov.Abigail Spanberger not to allow the charged individual to be released.In a Tuesday statement, DHS ripped Spanberger on charges of being too soft on illegal immigrant crime, saying that "Under Governor Abigail Spanberger, Virginia has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime."The latest involves Juan Arevalo Mendez, a 46-year-old twice-deported illegal immigrant from El Salvador who has been charged with rape and abduction in Fairfax County.
Arevalo Mendez was arrested last week in Prince William County on charges of rape and abduction with intent to sexually assault stemming from an alleged attack in Fairfax County last September, according to DHS.The agency said that Arevalo Mendez originally entered the country legally in 1991, but his status was revoked after his first conviction for destruction of property in 1998.He was deported in 2003, illegally re-entered the U.S., was deported again in 2014, and illegally re-entered again at an unknown date and location.
In addition to the illegal re-entries, Arevalo Mendez has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple convictions for assault, including aggravated assault and assault with a weapon, as well as drug possession, obstructing justice, identity theft and larceny.ICE MAKES NATIONWIDE ARRESTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, MURDERERS, PEDOPHILES IN HOLIDAY BLITZVirginia Democratic Gov.Abigail Spanberger (left) is being criticized by the Department of Homeland Security as it lodges yet another detainer for Juan Arevalo Mendez (right), an illegal immigrant charged in a serious crime.
(Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via Getty Images; DHS)The same day he was arrested, U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer for Fairfax County officials to hold Arevalo Mendez.Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis remarked that "DHS is c...