Once again, a deadly outcome follows a predictable decision. Fairfax County, Virginia, released an illegal immigrant from jail despite a direct detention request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement — and within days, a man was allegedly murdered.
According to ICE, Marvin Morales-Ortez, a Salvadoran national in the country illegally, was freed from custody before police say he fatally shot a Reston resident on Wednesday. ICE confirmed that it had requested Fairfax County detain Morales-Ortez, but the county declined to cooperate.
Court records show Morales-Ortez had accumulated multiple serious charges between August 2023 and September 2025, including assault causing injury, brandishing or pointing a firearm, assault on law enforcement, and disorderly conduct. All of those charges were dropped prior to his release. Apparently, warning signs are optional in sanctuary jurisdictions.
“Fairfax County failed the victim by refusing to work with ICE and releasing this criminal alien onto Virginia streets instead of safely into ICE custody,” an ICE spokesperson said. “If Fairfax County would have simply worked to uphold our nation’s laws, then this tragedy may have never happened.”
That statement is hard to argue with.
The Fairfax County Police Department acknowledged that Morales-Ortez was released from the Adult Detention Center under a General District Court order. A county spokesperson declined to respond to requests for comment, and court records list no defense attorney for Morales-Ortez at this time. He is currently being held on a second-degree murder charge.
This was not Morales-Ortez’s first brush with a homicide investigation. In 2021, he was accused of murder, though that charge was later dropped after authorities determined another individual was responsible. His only prior conviction in Fairfax County was for a June 2024 theft case, stemming from a failure to appear in court. He received no jail time and was fined $300 — a fine he never fully paid. Accountability, once again, was optional.
After his release Tuesday, Fairfax County’s Community Services Board obtained an emergency custody order for Morales-Ortez, citing concerns that he posed a danger to himself or others due to a potential mental health issue. Police attempted to locate him, according to the department’s statement on X. By then, it was already too late.
This case underscores what critics of sanctuary policies have been saying for years: when local governments refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, the consequences are borne by innocent people. Laws existed. Warnings were issued. Options were available. They were ignored.
The hopeful takeaway is that the truth is becoming harder to dismiss. Cases like this cut through talking points and force a serious conversation about public safety, immigration enforcement, and accountability. President Trump has been clear from day one: enforcing the law saves lives. And as more Americans see the real-world costs of refusing to do so, momentum is building for policies that put citizens first and tragedies like this one firmly in the past.
