U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in collaboration with federal law enforcement partners, arrested Ander Cortez-Mendez, 21, a Guatemalan national who is illegally present in the United States and a convicted sex offender, in Falls Church, Virginia, on April 2.
ICE ERO Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russell Hott stated, “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. 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.”
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According to ICE, Cortez-Mendez illegally entered the United States near the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, on February 4, 2018, where he was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP). The following day, USBP issued him a notice to appear before a Justice Department immigration judge.
The Fairfax County Police Department arrested Cortez-Mendez on March 16, 2024, on sex crime charges.
Following this arrest, ICE Washington, D.C. lodged an immigration detainer against Cortez-Mendez with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on March 18, 2024. However, the detention center reportedly refused to honor the ICE detainer and released Cortez-Mendez back into the community.
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The Fairfax County Circuit Court found Cortez-Mendez guilty of consensual sexual intercourse with a child on May 20, 2024. The court sentenced him to three months in prison but suspended the entire sentence.
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