(The Center Square) – For the second time since Feb. 23, Fairfax County in Virginia is mourning the loss of life in a stabbing believed to have been caused by someone illegally in America.
Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, 38, from Guatemala, is charged in Sunday’s incident in Bailey’s Crossroads. He’s charged with second-degree murder and being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
Published reports say he is believed to have come into the United States as a gotaway. That means he came across the border without documentation as required by law, was detected by border security, but not apprehended and did not turn back.
Abdul Jalloh, from Sierra Leone, is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Stephanie Minter on Feb. 23. She was killed at a bus stop in Hybla Valley.
Federal officials have said Jalloh was in the United States illegally and had more than 30 prior arrests. The Department of Homeland Security also said immigration authorities had previously lodged a detainer against him.
Immigration and cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been hotly debated in Virginia. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, in one of her first acts, rescinded an order requiring the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Corrections to enter into 287(g) agreements with ICE.
The order also encouraged local law enforcement agencies to participate in the federal immigration enforcement program.
Spanberger has said the policy change is intended to refocus state and local law enforcement resources on core public safety responsibilities. In a television interview, she criticized federal immigration enforcement tactics, saying they undermine trust between law enforcement and communities.
House Bill 1441 would place limits on cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, while allowing coordination in certain cases, including when a valid judicial warrant or detainer is issued, according to bill language.
This story originally appeared in The Center Square.
