A Salvadoran national accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Virginia had already accumulated a long list of arrests before federal immigration officials renewed efforts to deport him.
According to Fox News, Cristobal Liobardo Vasquez-Sanchez, 25, was arrested May 22 on charges of sexual battery and object sexual penetration by force after police say an attack occurred inside a parking garage stairwell in Arlington.
Investigators said the woman managed to escape and seek help while the suspect fled the scene. He was later taken into custody.
The arrest quickly reignited tensions between federal immigration officials and Virginia’s Democratic leadership after the Department of Homeland Security said an earlier ICE detainer request involving Vasquez-Sanchez had been denied.
Federal officials say Vasquez-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, had faced 14 criminal charges this year before the alleged assault.
According to records cited by DHS, his arrests began piling up months earlier.
In January, Vasquez-Sanchez was arrested for violating pretrial release conditions while already out on bond connected to another case.
The following month, authorities charged him with larceny.
On April 15, he was arrested again and charged with public intoxication, assault and battery, and assault on a law enforcement officer.
Five days later, police again charged him with violating pretrial release conditions.
Between late April and mid-May, authorities charged him with public intoxication four separate times. One of those incidents also led to disorderly conduct and fleeing law enforcement charges.
Additional charges listed in records include larceny, assault and battery, destruction of property with intent, and public intoxication.
Despite the repeated arrests, Vasquez-Sanchez was released each time instead of being held in custody pending trial.
Federal immigration officials blamed Virginia policies for limiting cooperation with ICE.
At the direction of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Virginia has reduced state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and required judicial warrants in situations immigration officials argue do not legally require them.
Just days before the alleged assault, Spanberger signed an executive order adding additional restrictions affecting federal immigration operations in the state.
ICE has now issued another detainer request for Vasquez-Sanchez.
“Governor Spanberger’s decision to end cooperation with ICE in Virginia has allowed criminals to be released back into American communities,” Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.
“When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers need to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” Bis added.
She also accused the governor of allowing dangerous offenders to remain on Virginia streets.
“While Governor Spanberger continues to allow the release of pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto Virginia’s streets, DHS law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals,” she said.
Spanberger’s office pushed back against the criticism and said the governor supports deporting violent offenders.
“Governor Spanberger has repeatedly made clear that violent criminals who are in the United States illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and deported,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The spokesperson also noted that Virginia law enforcement agencies continue cooperating with federal authorities through task forces and other joint operations.
