U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Oscar Evaristo Nunez on September 15 during a targeted enforcement operation, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Wednesday.
Nunez, a Honduran national who entered the United States illegally near Arizona around September 2003, faces multiple child sex crime charges in Virginia.
He was first arrested on August 27, 2025, on charges of aggravated sexual battery involving children and offenses related to the non-consensual filming of an undressed minor.
ICE lodged a detainer with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center two days after his initial arrest, but local authorities did not honor it and released Nunez without notifying the agency.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued a sharp rebuke of Fairfax County officials following the arrest, framing the case as a direct consequence of sanctuary policies.
“Another criminal illegal alien has been taken off the streets by the brave men and women of ICE with no help from sanctuary politicians in Fairfax County,” Mullin said in a news release.
Mullin further stated that “Fairfax County refused to honor ICE’s detainer and let this creep back out onto the streets,” adding that ICE had again done the job “that these heartless sanctuary politicians won’t do.”
The DHS secretary also called on Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger to “stop putting the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people.”
Spanberger, a Democrat who took office in January 2026, was not serving as governor when Nunez was arrested and when ICE filed the detainer in August 2025.
Since taking office, Spanberger has directed state agencies to terminate agreements with ICE under the federal 287(g) program, moving Virginia away from certain forms of participation in federal immigration enforcement.
The case has become the latest flashpoint between the Trump administration and Virginia officials over the question of local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
A representative for Fairfax County did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
A DHS report has previously stated that 75 percent of all murders in Fairfax County are committed by illegal aliens, a figure that has intensified debate over the county’s sanctuary policies and their impact on public safety.
Nunez currently remains in ICE custody and is pending immigration proceedings following his arrest last September.
