U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of a Guatemalan national previously convicted of raping a child. The illegal immigrant, who was found guilty of having sexual intercourse with a child on May 20, 2024, was taken into custody during a targeted operation. The arrest underscores the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and deport illegal aliens who were allowed to remain in the U.S. under the Biden administration. ICE has been actively empowered to pursue and apprehend illegal immigrants with criminal convictions, resulting in the removal of thousands as part of a broader push to restore law and order and prioritize public safety.
ICE announced that Ander Cortez-Mendez was arrested in Falls Church and taken into custody on April 2. Russell Hott, Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Washington, D.C., stated that the agency remains committed to protecting communities by arresting and removing criminal illegal immigrants, ensuring they no longer pose a threat to the American public.
WHOA: ICE just ARRESTED a illegal immigrant child rapist — after Fairfax County ran cover for him. pic.twitter.com/APMRcGbD89
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 11, 2025
“Ander Cortez-Mendez is a convicted sex offender and exactly the type of illegal alien that ICE officers seek to remove from Washington, D.C., and Virginia,” Hott said. "We refuse to allow such offenders to continue to threaten the residents of our neighborhoods. ICE Washington, D.C., and our law enforcement partners will continue to arrest and remove criminal aliens from the streets of our communities.”
On February 4, 2018, Cortez-Mendez was first apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol after illegally entering the country near Rio Grande Valley, Texas. The next day, the Border Patrol issued him a notice to appear before a Justice Department immigration judge. However, he was never deported.
On March 16, 2024, the illegal alien was taken into custody for a second time in Fairfax County, Virginia, on sex crime charges. Two days later, ICE’s Washington, D.C. office lodged an immigration detainer against Cortez-Mendez with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. However, officials say the detention center declined to honor the detainer and released Cortez-Mendez into the community. On March 20, 2024, the Guatemalan national was found guilty of having sexual intercourse with a child. He was sentenced to three months in prison, but the court ultimately suspended the sentence.
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