EXCLUSIVE: 7News rides along with ICE in Virginia where removal operations are rising

WASHINGTON (7News) — On Thursday, 7News got an exclusive look at what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and multiple federal and state law enforcement officers are doing in Virginia to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.

7News is the first local news outlet to ride along with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C. Field Office since the new administration took over.

The ICE Washington Field Office enforces immigration laws in the District and all of Virginia.

Just before 5 a.m. on Thursday, 7News Reporter Nick Minock put on body armor at the ICE ERO Washington, D.C. field office in Chantilly, Virginia, before heading out with the new Washington Field Office Director and around 40 law enforcement officers who were seeking to arrest three people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Their targets included men living in Prince William County, Loudoun County, and the Town of Herndon. ICE said all three have committed crimes and are dangerous.

“The gentleman we're looking for in Herndon is a 35-year-old male from Honduras,” said ICE ERO Washington Field Office Director Russell Hott. “He was originally arrested for incest. He was [charged] of aggravated sexual battery of a child between the ages of 13 and 17, and this is somebody that presents a significant public safety risk. This is not the kind of person seeking a better life. He is here creating harm and doing some irreparable damage to children in the area, and that is something that our agency, our officers, our brave women and men, are committed to combating. The individuals that we are looking to apprehend today all present risk to our general public safety overall, and our folks are dedicated to the mission, passionate and compassionate as they carry out their daily responsibilities.”

Hott said ICE ERO issued an immigration detainer against the Honduran national, who they identified as Marvin Mateo-Alberto.

The detainer was issued when Mateo-Alberto was at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, according to ICE.

Minock asked ICE if the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center honored ICE’s detainer for the Honduran national.

“Unfortunately, no, sir,” said Hott. “We see this all too often. And what I would say is it's alarming to see somebody like this who preys on [children] and to see another law enforcement agency disregard another lawful request from another law enforcement agency, it's disheartening to say the least.”

Hott said the Fairfax County Sheriff’s decision not to honor detainers is dangerous and presents a risk to law enforcement officers.

“Our folks work quietly behind the scenes, locating, spending a tremendous amount of resources to try and locate this one individual,” said Hott. “As you may have seen from our briefing this morning, we have about 40 law enforcement officers out here today looking for these three targeted individuals. ICE uses data-driven intelligence leads and the full scope of its investigatory authorities and law enforcement capabilities to identify, arrest, and ultimately remove these threats from our community.”

Hott said ICE ERO intends to remove the Honduran national from the U.S.

“We don't just block a threat temporarily, we completely remove that threat from the community, and that is our intent today, once we make this arrest, like I said, due process has already been served with this individual for the removal side,” said Hott. “He has an order of removal from the United States that he has not complied with, so at this stage, we are counting him as a fugitive from immigration law.”

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7News sat with the ICE officers in a vehicle for a while in a Herndon neighborhood until ICE’s target appeared.

Multiple law enforcement officers drove up to their target at a residential neighborhood intersection and stopped the truck he was riding in. The man was a passenger.

The truck happened to have two other men inside who ICE ERO learned are also in the U.S. illegally.

The ICE ERO Washington Field Office Director told 7News it would be safer for officers and the community if Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid honored ICE detainers and allowed ICE pick-ups in the jail.

“That’s the easiest, safest way for all of law enforcement,” said Hott. “This kind of activity puts the entire community at risk.”

Kincaid runs the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

After law enforcement officers safely arrested the men in Herndon, officers drove back to the Washington Field Office with the men they arrested.

Once inside, 7News asked ICE what they learned about the two other men they arrested in Herndon.

“One who was a fugitive with a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge, and another who had also been previously removed from the United States, who subsequently reentered,” said Hott. “So today, we're going to process some of that paperwork, reinstate, and then we will likely look to prosecute the reentry for criminal charges in addition to the immigration.”

ICE ERO’s Washington Field Office told 7News that neither of the collateral arrests, the other occupants of the truck, had any U.S. criminality other than re-entering the country after a previous deportation.

ICE said the driver of the truck is an illegally present 38-year-old Honduran national who was previously removed from the United States on April 24, 2007, and the passenger in the truck is an illegally present 51-year-old Honduran national who was previously removed on May 19, 2006, and again removed on April 24, 2007.

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During their operation Thursday morning, ICE said they arrested their target in Prince William County in Bristow. The man is Juan Antonio Garcia-Julian. ICE said he is an illegally present Guatemalan national.

ICE told 7News that officers served a criminal warrant for Garcia re-entering the United States after being deported, and he has previous convictions for assault on a family member and strangling another, which caused wounding.

The agencies that participated in Thursday morning’s operation included ICE Washington, D.C.; ATF Washington, D.C.; the State Department Diplomatic Security Service Washington, D.C.; and the Virginia State Police.

ICE ERO’s Washington Field Office told 7News they made an additional arrest on Thursday. ICE said they arrested a 26-year-old Guatemalan national and MS-13 member.

As for Fairfax County, the sheriff’s office told 7News one of the reasons why they don’t honor ICE detainers is that the sheriff chooses to require ICE to get judicial orders.

But the ICE ERO Washington Field Office Director told 7News that is not what the U.S. Congress intended in federal law. We will have more on that on Friday on 7News.