Manassas murder suspect's past arrests didn't trigger ICE proceedings

Despite two arrests since a judge ordered his deportation in 2002, Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro -- accused of killing three and wounding three more in Manassas Thursday night --  remained in the United States.

Reyes, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, came into the United States illegally in 2001 and was ordered deported nine years ago. Manassas police on Thursday said he had been at large ever since.

But on March 13, 2004, he was picked up and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, court records show. He was found guilty and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with all jail time suspended and ordered to pay $187 in court costs.

Court records also show that Reyes was charged on Jan. 25, 2008 with a misdemeanor charge of drinking alcoholic beverages in a public place.

According to court records, he paid a $25 fine and $72 in court costs in advance and did not appear in court.

In 2007, officials in Manassas and Prince William County authorized the Prince William-Manassas regional jail to enter into an agreement with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Under section 287(g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, local law enforcement officers with ICE training are allowed to act as immigration officials and enforce federal immigration laws under certain conditions.

The program is designed to identify and deport illegal immigrants who have been involved in serious or violent crimes, such as murder, human smuggling, organized crime, criminal gang activity, money laundering, narcotics or smuggling.

It appears, given the time frame, that the crime behind Reyes’ 2008 arrest was not severe enough to trigger an ICE detainer under the 287(g) program.

Since he didn’t go to jail,  he wouldn’t have been entered into the system for processing, said Col. Pete Meletis, the jail superintendent.

There were no provisions in place for deportation proceedings in 2004, Meletis said.

Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, who introduced a bill in the Virginia Assembly that would allow state police to enter into a 287(g) agreement with ICE, said the killings Thursday night illustrated the need for the program.

Miller’s bill passed the House of Delegates and is in committee in the Senate.

In past years, similar immigration bills have died in the Senate.

“If history proves anything they will fail in the Senate,” Miller said of several immigration bills that recently passed the House of Delegates.

Miller said he won’t be shy in pressing senators this year in light or the Thursday’s killings or the August death of a nun in an auto accident on Bristow Road.

Carlos Martinelly Montano, an illegal immigrant from Bolivia, is accused of causing the accident that killed Benedictine Sister Denise Mosier.

“I’ll use the death of a nun as an example. It is absolutely why we must — especially criminal illegal aliens — get them out of our community,” Miller said.

Sen. George L. Barker, D-39th said he hasn’t seen Miller’s bill yet since it just went to the Senate’s Committee for Courts and Justice’s immigration subcommittee.

Still he supports the 287(g) program locally.

“I haven’t looked at it statewide, but I certainly support it in Prince William and Fairfax County,” he said.