The MS-13 gang member under a U.S. deportation order, Kilmar Ábrego García, was headlined across mainstream media as a “Maryland man,” misleadingly suggesting he was a U.S. citizen rather than a citizen of El Salvador, where he was deported. Ábrego García faces two federal human smuggling charges for trafficking thousands of undocumented aliens with no authorization to be in the United States, including minors, many of whom were MS-13 members and associates.
Now the media is claiming that ICE arrested yet another “an innocent man.” David Perez-Teofani is a 36-year-old Mexican national who entered the U.S. illegally three times and had previously been deported twice. He has a final order of removal and is anything but an innocent man.
Like all of these sympathy-grabbing videos, the video of Perez-Teofani’s arrest begins with him resisting and being taken down by about five agents. The liberal media shows these images to spark outrage, commenting on the “brutality” of ICE, but the suspect was trying to escape.
Other than taking him down and pinning him, there really isn’t another way to complete the arrest if he keeps fighting and trying to run. And of course, this raises the question: why do they believe it is acceptable to fight and try to run from ICE?
During the arrest, Perez-Teofani kept shouting in Spanish: “I just came to work. I came here for a better life. I didn’t come here to be arrested.” It’s as if liberals want to use this as evidence: “You see! He didn’t come here to be arrested, therefore he should be released.”
They always miss the fact that being a “hardworking” illegal immigrant means he committed three crimes: the crime of entering the country illegally, the crime of being in the country illegally, and the crime of working illegally.
Prior to his most recent arrest, David Perez-Teofani had illegally entered the U.S. three times, had been deported twice, and was already facing a final order of removal. He had also been arrested in Fairfax County on January 30, 2024, for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13 and felony indecent liberties. Not only did he receive felony charges, but the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney, a Democrat, later dropped the case without public explanation. That is why he was released—despite being a repeat illegal entrant with a deportation order.
According to bond hearing notes, the alleged victim was a relative who accused Perez-Teofani of touching her breast, and he told a detective the accusation came when he was disciplining the child. Prosecutors dropped the charges in August 2024.
ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Perez-Teofani with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center after his January 2024 arrest on child sex charges, requesting he be held so ICE could take custody after the case was resolved. The detention center refused to honor the detainer, as Fairfax officials typically require a judicial warrant, something ICE does not normally provide. When the charges were dropped in August 2024, Perez-Teofani was released back into the community instead of being transferred to ICE.
This pattern is common in sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide. In New York City, ICE detainers are routinely ignored. For example, Reeaz Khan, a Guyanese national, was arrested for assault and weapon possession in November 2019. ICE lodged a detainer, but he was released, and weeks later he was charged with the sexual assault and murder of a 92-year-old woman.
Estivan Rafael Marques Velasquez, a Salvadoran national and self-admitted MS-13 gang member, was also released despite an active detainer, despite his history of reckless endangerment, weapons charges, and disorderly conduct. Another case involved a Jamaican national, Cespedes, who faced multiple arrests for marijuana, assault, and attempted murder; detainers were ignored each time, allowing him to remain free until ICE eventually arrested him in the community.
In California, Carlos Morales-Ramirez, a Salvadoran convicted of second-degree murder and assault on a child, was released in December 2013 when an ICE detainer was ignored. In Maryland, Alex Yonatan Flores-Arce, a Honduran national convicted of second-degree rape, was released from Howard County Detention Center in May 2020 despite a detainer, and was arrested again days later for a probation violation.
Philadelphia has followed similar practices. In one case, a previously deported illegal alien from Honduras was released despite an ICE detainer and went on to rape a child. In New York City, Volodymyr Polovko, a Ukrainian arrested for multiple sexual abuse charges, was released without ICE notification under sanctuary policies.
The scope of the problem is significant. In New York City alone, between January and mid-April of one year, ICE filed more than 440 detainers; nearly 40 individuals who were released went on to reoffend. Nationally, during the four-year Biden-Harris administration, more than 22,000 criminal migrants were released by sanctuary jurisdictions instead of being transferred to ICE, and roughly a quarter committed additional crimes.
These cases illustrate a clear pattern: when local jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with ICE detainers, individuals with serious criminal histories are released back into communities. Many have gone on to commit violent crimes, including murder, rape, and assault, that could have been prevented through basic cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
After his release, Perez-Teofani remained free until his most recent arrest. On Wednesday, federal agents and D.C. police detained him on the National Mall as he screamed for help during the arrest. Although Fairfax prosecutors failed to pursue the child sex crime charges in Virginia, ICE has confirmed he will be deported for a third time.
This case underscores a broader pattern: local jurisdictions refusing to honor ICE detainers, prosecutors dropping serious charges, and repeat illegal entrants returning to U.S. communities, until federal enforcement finally intervenes.
