ICE Urges Virginia Governor Not to Release Suspect in Fatal Stabbing

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has requested that Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger prevent the release of Freddi Chigo Mil, a Mexican national charged in connection with a fatal stabbing spree in Staunton, Virginia. The incident left one woman dead and another injured.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE sent a detainer request to Governor Spanberger and other state officials, urging them not to release Mil from custody. Mil faces charges of second-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding causing permanent impairment. Police found Mil at the scene of the stabbing, along with the two victims.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin criticized sanctuary policies, stating, "this is what the Commonwealth of Virginia has become under the sanctuary policies of Gov. Abigail Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians." He added, "ICE has lodged a detainer asking Gov. Spanberger to cooperate with us and commit to not releasing this criminal from jail, so that he can be removed from our country once he faces justice." Mullin asserted that "Deporting illegal aliens saves lives."

On the same day as Mil's arrest, ICE apprehended Salvadoran national Yinmi Molina-Zepeda in Woodbridge, Virginia. Molina-Zepeda is reportedly wanted in his home country for aggravated homicide and other crimes.

Jennifer Harrison, executive director of the Victims’ Rights Reform Council, expressed alarm over the situation, telling Fox News Digital, "Everything is out of control in these upside-down jurisdictions run by politicians like Spanberger who call themselves ‘moderate Democrats’ while implementing policies that put criminals ahead of victims and public safety." She questioned, "How much blood has to be spilled in our streets before elected officials wake up and change course?"

DHS has cited 22 cases of violent crime involving undocumented immigrants in Virginia this year, with charges including child pornography, sex offenses against children, attempted disarming of a law enforcement officer, murder, aggravated sexual battery, rape, and abduction.

A spokesperson for Governor Spanberger's office stated that the governor "strongly believes violent criminals who are in the United States illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and deported." The spokesperson added that under Spanberger's leadership, the Virginia Department of Corrections continues the practice of notifying ICE when individuals born outside the U.S. are in state custody, and that state law enforcement agencies cooperate with federal agencies. The governor's office also noted Spanberger's background as a former federal law enforcement officer.

Sean Kennedy, president of Virginians for Safe Communities, criticized the governor's approach, stating, "Spanberger’s actions are not pro-immigrant. They are pro-criminal." He accused her of hindering ICE and suggested that victims' faces should serve as a constant reminder to the governor.

Mil is being held at the Middle River Regional Jail.