Why would a judge in Fairfax County, Virginia release a sex offender with a detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement? Perhaps residents in northern Virginia should demand an answer to that question — and soon.
ICE first encountered Ander Cortez-Mendez in February 2018, when the Guatemalan crossed illegally into Texas and was ordered to appear before an immigration judge. Cortez-Mendez apparently didn’t bother to comply, and has remained in the US ever since. Six years later, Cortez-Mendez reappeared as a sex offender after being convicted of sexual intercourse with a minor in March 2024.
So what happened? Despite the nature of the offense, the Fairfax County judge suspended his three-month sentence and refused to cooperate with ICE for deportation:
The ICE Washington, D.C. office lodged an immigration detainer against Cortez-Mendez with the Fairfax…
