U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Monday that it apprehended a little more than 1,300 illegal aliens in a two-week operation conducted in Maryland and Virginia, largely within the Washington D.C. area. The arrest total is among the highest in agency history for one targeted operations.
The operation, titled Operation Safe Community, resulted in the arrests of 1,328 illegal aliens from August 1 through August 14. According to report from Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials described the effort as one of the most successful operations in ICE agency history.
Melugin reported that multiple ICE sources confirmed the arrests took place over the 14-day period in Virginia and Maryland, areas that include jurisdictions with sanctuary-type policies. The operation targeted individuals present in the United States illegally, regardless of criminal history.
Of those arrested, nearly 400 had either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges in the United States. These included a Salvadoran national, Eygner Wilfredo Huezo-Moran, who was wanted by police in Richmond, Virginia, on a murder warrant. Other individuals arrested had records involving attempted murder, rape, sexual battery, kidnapping, robbery, and driving while intoxicated.
Melugin further noted that many of those arrested attempted to flee from ICE officers or resisted arrest during the operation. The effort primarily focused on suburban areas around Washington, D.C., though officers conducted targeted enforcement actions throughout both Virginia and Maryland.
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BREAKING/EXCLUSIVE: DHS tells @FoxNews that ICE has quietly carried out one of its most successful operations in agency history, resulting in the arrests of 1,328 illegal aliens in just a 14-day span in the states of Virginia & Maryland. Nearly 400 of the aliens had criminal… pic.twitter.com/ZCcWuAxxZS
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 24, 2026
A DHS press release detailed that the operation netted illegal alien offenders with criminal histories that include convictions for sexual battery, kidnapping, driving while intoxicated, hit-and-run, identity theft, and robbery, as well as arrests for murder, attempted murder, and rape. ICE officers also arrested members of transnational criminal street gangs including MS-13, the 18th Street Gang, and Tren de Aragua
The release also named a handful of some of the most dangerous illegal aliens apprehended, which included Eygner Wilfredo Huezo-Moran, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador with a warrant for murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder in Richmond, Virginia. ICE officers and U.S. Marshals arrested him in Chesterfield, Virginia, and turned him over to local authorities. An immigration detainer was lodged against him pending completion of criminal proceedings.
Additional foreign nationals from El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica with violent criminal histories were also apprehended and will remain in ICE custody pending removal.
“The brave men and women of ICE are hard at work every single day getting these dangerous illegal aliens out of our country. Over the course of just two weeks in Virginia and Maryland, they arrested sexual assailants, kidnappers, drunk drivers, robbers, and gang members,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
“While sanctuary politicians in Virginia and Maryland keep putting the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people, the Trump Administration will always put American citizens first. By arresting and removing illegal aliens from our communities, we will make America safe again.”
