Meet One of the Media’s ‘Non-Criminals’: ICE Arrests MS-13 Gang Member in Sanctuary Virginia

WASHINGTON - The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a member of the terrorist organization MS-13 in the sanctuary state of Virginia.

On May 4, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Harrisonburg in Virginia arrested Josue Saul Garcia-Lopez, an illegal alien from El Salvador. According to an international warrant, Garcia-Lopez is an active member of the MS-13 gang and was involved in extortion and robbery schemes in El Salvador for several years.

He has prior arrests in El Salvador for unlawful possession of a firearm and disorderly conduct.

Garcia-Lopez entered the country at an unknown date and location.

"This gang member is wanted in his home country of El Salvador for running extortion and robbery schemes as a member of the vicious MS-13 gang," said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. "This is an example of an arrest that the media counts as 'non-criminal' because he lacks a rap sheet in the United States. It's not surprising that MS-13 members flock to sanctuary Virginia where they know Governor Abigail Spanberger and Virginia sanctuary politicians will protect them. Governor Spanberger made that clear when she ended state cooperation with ICE."

During her first days in office, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed executive orders banning state cooperation with ICE as well as terminating 287(g) state and local agreements.

The state has been a hotbed for illegal alien crime:

• In April, Roni Mendez-Escobar, an illegal alien from Guatemala, was arrested by ICE after previously being released by Fairfax County, despite being charged with possession of child porn with intent to distribute.
• In April, ICE lodged a detainer asking sanctuary politicians in Arlington County to not release Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran, an illegal alien from Guatemala, after he was arrested for attempted rape.
• In April, Israel Christopher Flores-Ortiz, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, was convicted for NINE counts of assault and battery after he groped multiple underage girls at a high school in Fairfax County.
• In April, the Fairfax County District Attorney's Office offered an insane plea deal of just 5 years to two illegal aliens who murdered a man at a park and walking trail in Oakton, Virginia in July of 2024.
• In April, Misael Lopez Gomez, another illegal alien from Guatemala, was arrested and charged with murder and felony child abuse after bludgeoning his own 3-month-old daughter to death in Fairfax County.
• In March, Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, an illegal alien from Guatemala, was arrested and charged with second degree murder after fatally stabbing a man inside his home in Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia.
• In February, Abdul Jalloh, an illegal alien from Sierra Leone with more than 30 prior arrests, was charged with murder after fatally stabbing 41-year-old Stephanie Minter at a bus stop in Hybla Valley, Virginia.

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