The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has publicly criticised Virginia's Democratic Governor, Abigail Spanberger, following the arrest of another illegal immigrant on violent crime charges in Fairfax County. In a statement issued on the Tuesday, DHS accused the governor of being too lenient on illegal immigrant crime, declaring that "Under Governor Abigail Spanberger, Virginia has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime." The dispute matters because it feeds into a broader political row over so-called sanctuary policies and immigration enforcement ahead of upcoming elections.

The latest case involves Juan Arevalo Mendez, a 46-year-old, twice-deported man from El Salvador, who has been charged with rape and abduction over an alleged attack in Fairfax County last September. DHS says he entered the US legally in 1991 but lost his status after a 1998 conviction, was deported in 2003 and 2014, and re-entered illegally on both occasions. He is also said to have a lengthy criminal record including assault, drug possession and identity theft. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer requesting that Fairfax County hold him, and DHS is urging local officials not to release him.