The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticized officials in Fairfax County, Virginia, after an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal history was released from custody and allegedly committed a murder the following day, accusing local leaders of endangering public safety, as reported [1] by Fox News.
According to authorities, a man was found shot dead inside his Northern Virginia home on Wednesday. The suspect, 23-year-old Marvin Morales-Ortez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador residing in the United States, was arrested following a manhunt later that day.
VIRGINIA: Soros-Backed Democrat DA Frees Illegal Murder Suspect—He Kills Again Hours Later
Once again, Soros DA in Fairfax Steve Descan freed a killer yesterday (dropped ALL charges vs. Marvin Fernando Morales-Ortez including attempted murder with a gun) and he immediately went… pic.twitter.com/mOUIhJyJTo [2]— TIMENOUT (@TIMENOUT) December 19, 2025 [3]
Court records and local media reports indicate Morales-Ortez was a suspected MS-13 member and had been charged with at least seven crimes in Fairfax County at the time of his latest arrest.
Morales-Ortez had been taken into custody on Tuesday on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a firearm. However, he was released after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office dropped the charges.
The office is led by Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who is backed by billionaire George Soros.
“The charges were nolle prossed due to insufficient evidence to move forward with the criminal case,” a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office told Fox News Digital.
“The victim told police that they had moved out of the country and would not be coming to court to cooperate in proceedings, regardless of timing. Sadly, without the victim’s necessary testimony, we could not move forward.”
Fairfax County Police and Descano’s office both said decisions regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers fall under the authority of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Stacey Kincaid.
The sheriff’s office said ICE was notified when Morales-Ortez was booked.
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state, and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC. In this instance, ICE was aware of Morales Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody. Accordingly, and consistent with our policies and the law, once the court issued an order dismissing his cases, Mr. Morales Ortez was released.”
Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger is reportedly considering Kincaid for a top Virginia State Police position, according to WJLA-TV.
DHS responded forcefully, placing blame on local officials. “This is nothing more than sanctuary politicians trying to pass the blame for their REFUSAL to protect American citizens,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“To honor a detainer, officials do NOT need a judicial warrant. The sanctuary politicians of Fairfax have blood on their hands. They should have turned this serial criminal illegal alien over to ICE law enforcement–instead, they chose to RELEASE him back into Virginia neighborhoods.”
Despite multiple charges dating back to 2020, Morales-Ortez was convicted in only one theft case, court records show. He was fined $300, which local media reported has not been paid.
Virginians 4 Safe Communities, a public safety group critical of Descano, also condemned the release. “For Steve Descano’s office, letting violent criminals out to commit more crimes isn’t a bug, it’s a feature,” said Sean Kennedy,
the group’s president. “That a dangerous offender would go free and create more victims is so commonplace in Fairfax that may have become numb to it. Descano exploits that.”
Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, ICE arrests in Virginia have nearly tripled compared with the prior administration.
The sanctuary politicians of Fairfax County, VA have blood on their hands.
The day after Fairfax County REFUSED to hand over Marvin Fernando Morales-Ortez, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, to ICE he allegedly MURDERED an American citizen.
He has a prior history of… pic.twitter.com/9KtG8bCIsO [4]
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 19, 2025 [5]
Last month, DHS highlighted arrests of what it called some of the state’s “worst of the worst” illegal immigrant offenders in a single week, involving suspects from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, with charges ranging from drug smuggling to domestic violence, rape, extortion, and terroristic threats.