ICE Detainer Issued For Prince William County Man Accused Of Raping Minor Girl

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an immigration detainer against a Manassas man originally from El Salvador, accused of raping a minor.

Cristian Saenz-Argueta, 30, was arrested on May 26 following an investigation into reports that a girl under the age of 15 had been assaulted in a parking lot in November. Authorities say that Saenz-Argueta met the girl online and pretended to be 18 years old. He then set up meetings with the girl in the parking lot, eventually assaulting her.

He has been charged with one count of rape and two counts of carnal knowledge of a child between the ages of 13 and 14.

Now, ICE has lodged a detainer for Saenz-Argueta, who is originally from El Salvador.

The Department of Homeland Security is asking Prince William County authorities not to release Saenz-Argueta and to cooperate with ICE. According to DHS, Saenz-Argueta entered the United States illegally at an unknown time, returned to El Salvador in 2022, and at some point after that again entered the U.S. without legal documentation.

An immigration detainer is a formal request from ICE that asks federal, state or local law enforcement agencies to notify them as early as possible before they release a person who could be subject to deportation and hold any undocumented migrant for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily release them so DHS has time to assume custody of them.