A man arrested by the Fairfax County Police Department in connection with a murder case has been confirmed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be a Honduran illegal immigrant. This arrest follows a series of previous criminal charges against the same individual within the county.

The body of Nicacio Hernandez Gonzalez, 47, of Fairfax, Virginia, was found at the 9500 block of Route 29, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. Three suspects have been arrested in the murder case: Maudin Anibal Guzma, 27; Wilmer Adli Guzman, 20; and Wis Alonso Sorto-Portillo, 45.

ICE confirmed to ABC 7 News that murder suspect Anibal Guzman entered the country illegally and has been arrested multiple times. Earlier this year, in March, he was arrested and charged with malicious assault for severely injuring a victim, among other offenses, but failed to appear in court. On June 28, Guzman was arrested again, this time charged with malicious wounding. Despite multiple immigration detainers issued by ICE, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office did not honor them.

In the past 12 months, the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center has housed 725 “undocumented individuals,” according to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. Of these, only three have been transferred to ICE, as reported by ABC 7 News. Many of these inmates are held for violent crimes or child sex crimes, yet the sheriff’s office continues to refuse ICE’s immigration detainers, resulting in most inmates being released back into the community.

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid has stated in a letter that she requires a judicial warrant to transfer inmates to ICE despite detainers being issued.

The actions of Fairfax County contrast sharply with those of Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman, who honors detainers without a judicial warrant. This has enabled ICE to deport nearly 100 illegal immigrants from his county over the past two years.

“We need to make sure that we’re not keeping these people in our community that can do further harm,” Chapman explained. “It makes no sense to me to allow these people to stay in the area and then commit another crime if we know for a fact that they’re violent and that they’re here illegally.”

Chapman elaborated on his office’s procedure: “When we arrest somebody, we immediately run them to see whether they’re here illegally or not. And if in fact they are and we notify ICE, then ICE has to make some determination whether or not it’s somebody they want to detain – whether it’s somebody they want to come and pick up. We notify ICE as to when that person might appear before a magistrate, when they might appear before a judge and how much time they have to actually get out there and pick them up.”