Overview
- Fairfax County officials released Israel Flores Ortiz into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Monday after he served part of a sentence for groping multiple female students.
- A jury convicted Ortiz on nine counts of assault and battery for incidents at Fairfax High School that involved as many as 13 girls, some as young as 13, who said he grabbed them in crowded hallways.
- Ortiz was sentenced in April to less than a year in jail and served about 140 days with credit for time served and good behavior before the county transfer that occurred days ahead of a scheduled Sept. 3 release.
- ICE lodged a detainer after his arrest, an immigration judge ordered his deportation on Aug. 10, and the agency says it will keep Ortiz in federal custody while it moves to remove him from the country.
- The case highlights how local decisions on honoring ICE detainers affect public safety and immigration enforcement and could prompt renewed scrutiny of Fairfax County policies and coordination between county jails and federal authorities.