FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers from Washington, D.C. arrested an illegal alien from El Salvador with an exhaustive criminal history that includes arrests for three counts of malicious shooting, unlawful wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, assault and battery, assault on a family member, grand larceny, trespassing, possessing a false government identification, orderly conduct, public intoxication, disturbing the peace and making a false statement to a law enforcement officer. ICE officers arrested Jorge Armando Melendez-Gonzalez, 27, after Fairfax County officials refused to honor an ICE immigration detainer and released him back into the community.

“Jorge Armando Melendez-Gonzalez is a career criminal with a propensity toward violence. He is exactly the kind of criminal alien offender that ICE detainers protect the members our communities against,” said ICE ERO Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russell Hott. “When sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to honor ICE detainers, they only endanger the people they purport to protect. ICE will continue to prioritize the safety of our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities by arresting and removing such criminal alien offenders from our streets.”

U.S. Border Patrol arrested Melendez-Gonzalez after he illegally entered the United States June 22, 2015. A Justice Department immigration judge ordered Melendez-Gonzalez removed from the United States to El Salvador Oct. 4, 2016; however, Melendez-Gonzalez refused to leave the country.

Between March 19, 2018, and July 18, 2025, Melendez-Gonzalez was arrested ten times and charged with 19 different crimes.

ICE Washington, D.C. lodged two immigration detainers against Melendez-Gonzalez with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. One on Aug. 28, 2023, and another on July 18. On both occasions, Fairfax County officials refused to honor the immigration detainer and released this dangerous criminal alien back into the community.

ICE officers arrested Melendez-Gonzalez Oct. 24, 2025, in Fairfax, Virginia, after Fairfax County officials refused to honor ICE’s July 18 immigration detainer and released him back into the community.

If you have information about criminal alien activity in your community, call the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE or complete the online tip form .

Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our Virginia communities on X: @EROWashington .