by Nick Minock Tue, March 3, 2026 at 9:48 AM
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) slammed Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger for saying they should get a signed judicial warrant if they want to detain a man accused of stabbing and murdering a woman at a Fairfax County bus stop.
DHS said Spanberger is fighting to protect a murderer over American citizens.
READ | Illegal immigrant accused of killing woman in Fairfax County had previous charges dropped
“Sanctuary [Spanberger] is fighting to protect a MURDERER over American citizens,” DHS posted on X on Tuesday.
“This monster is responsible for fatally stabbing Stephanie Minter. ICE does NOT need judicial warrants to make arrests. The heroes of ICE will continue to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens across the Commonwealth while Governor Spanberger RELEASES them from jails into Virginia communities to commit more crimes and create more victims.”
“After this criminal alien serves his sentence for MURDER, Governor Spanberger will release him back out onto Virginia’s streets, saying that ICE needs a signed “judicial warrant” to detain him,” ICE posted on X on Tuesday. “This is asinine and legally illiterate. ICE is empowered by federal law to detain illegal aliens, and state officials like Spanberger are REQUIRED to honor ICE detainers. Only a month into being governor, and she’s protecting illegal alien murderers. Disgusting.”
The response from the federal immigration agencies come after Spanberger’s told 7News on Monday, “As a former federal law enforcement officer who conducted joint search and arrest warrants alongside state and local officers, Governor Spanberger firmly believes that violent criminals who are in the United States illegally should be deported by immigration enforcement. DHS should request a signed judicial warrant to ensure this violent criminal is deported.”
Spanberger’s office sent 7News the statement after DHS called on the governor to commit to honoring immigration detainers lodged against Abdul Jalloh after he was charged with murdering Stephanie Minter of Fredericksburg at a Fairfax County bus stop.
The man accused of murdering the Fredericksburg woman is a Sierra Leone National, who DHS said is in the country illegally. Jalloh is well known to Fairfax County prosecutors and police.
SEE ALSO | Man illegally in the US with criminal history now charged in Reston homicide
7News found Jalloh has had more than 40 charges against him in Fairfax County, ranging from rape, stabbings, assaults and more.
In almost every case, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano dropped the charges against Jalloh, allowing him to go back into the community.
Several legal experts 7News has spoken to say ICE does not need a judicial warrant to make an immigration arrest, and that local law enforcement requiring them is a choice.
When ICE wants to detain an illegal immigrant in the Fairfax County jail, they send detainers and administrative warrants to the Sheriff, which is what happened in the case of Abdul Jalloh.
Legal experts 7News spoke to agreed that ICE cannot go to a local Fairfax County judge to get a judicial warrant. However, ICE can go to a federal judge for a warrant, Ben Messer with the American Immigration Lawyers Association said.
“ICE can go to a federal judge, a federal district judge there in Virginia, and say this person is charged with this crime in the Commonwealth, and they probably can get access to some of the records that have been used to charge the guy and say, this is why, you know, we think he’s dangerous,” Messer said.
But former federal prosecutor Zack Smith said ICE cannot get a federal warrant for a state crime, which is what Jalloh is charged with.
“Essentially, what the governor and others who support her position are doing is they’re making it more difficult for ICE to do their jobs,” said Smith. “It could lead to some of these violent repeat offenders being released back onto the street before federal authorities can pick them up. And essentially, what this is designed to do is to throw additional roadblocks in the way of federal immigration authorities being able to effectively and safely do their jobs.”
“The governor says that ICE should get a judicial warrant if they want this guy. To some people, a judicial warrant might sound like a reasonable request, is it?” 7News Reporter Nick Minock asked Jonathan Fahey.
“That’s what I think her tactic is to say something that sounds reasonable, but it’s inherently not reasonable, and certainly not necessary,” said Fahey.
Fahey is a former federal prosecutor and a former Fairfax County prosecutor. He’s also a former Acting Director of ICE.
“It seems like if you went to a Fairfax judge [requesting a judicial warrant for an immigration arrest], they would say, this is a federal matter,” said Fahey. “If you went to a federal judge, and somehow they were able to do this, there would be a massive backlog in cases. In fact, they wouldn’t be able to do anything else other than issue warrants and not do any of their other judicial responsibilities.”
ICE says no judge in the country has the authority to issue a warrant for a civil immigration violation.
7News reached out to Spanberger’s office on Tuesday seeking clarification on how the governor suggested ICE obtain a judicial warrant. Her office has not responded.