ICE Arrests Convicted Violent Offender Aguilar After Prince George’s Release Despite Detainer

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it arrested Rafael Aguilar on Jan. 13, 2026, after Prince George’s County released him from the county jail on Jan. 6 despite a federal immigration detainer lodged Aug. 19, 2025. The arrest, announced publicly by ICE on Feb. 6, has set off competing accounts from federal and county officials about who had legal responsibility to hold Aguilar.

ICE described Aguilar as a Honduran national who was charged with attempted murder in connection with a stabbing on April 19, 2025, and “convicted of second-degree assault.” Local reporting by WMAR and Fox Baltimore says Aguilar pleaded guilty to an assault charge and was credited with 141 days already served. WMAR reports that Circuit Court Judge Todd C. Steuart imposed a 10-year sentence but ordered Aguilar to serve just 141 days and released him on probation; Fox Baltimore reports the plea and immediate release as credit for time served.

Fox Baltimore recounts the April 19 stabbing in Chillum, saying the victim felt a sharp pain in his back, collapsed, and later saw Aguilar standing over him with a knife threatening to kill him. The victim survived and later recovered.

ICE Baltimore acting Field Office Director Vernon Liggins framed the case as part of broader concerns about local cooperation with federal immigration requests, saying, “When sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to honor ICE immigration detainers for egregious criminal illegal aliens, they are knowingly endangering the public. By releasing Aguilar instead of cooperating with federal law enforcement, local officials in Prince George’s County chose politics over public safety. These reckless policies fail the law-abiding residents who expect their communities to be kept safe. ICE will continue to step in and do the job sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to do.”

Prince George’s County officials, as reported by WMAR and Fox Baltimore, dispute ICE’s portrayal. A county spokesperson said, “ICE was notified before Aguilar left the county jail and was given more than two hours to pick him up. When federal agents did not arrive, the county said it was legally obligated to release him because a judge had ordered it and county law requires a criminal warrant to hold someone beyond that point.”

The episode takes place against a recent local backdrop: WMAR notes the county was labeled a “Sanctuary County” in May 2025 and removed from that listing in August 2025, a development that has sharpened scrutiny of detainer practice and intergovernmental coordination. National context cited by WTOP, referencing an internal DHS document, shows that less than 14 percent of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested in a referenced period had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, underscoring debates about how enforcement resources are targeted.

Practically, Aguilar has been issued a notice to appear before a Justice Department immigration judge and, according to ICE, will remain in ICE custody. For Prince George’s County residents the case raises immediate questions about jail release procedures, the timing and sufficiency of federal pickup requests, and how plea bargaining and credit-for-time-served decisions at the Circuit Court level interact with immigration enforcement. The dispute now turns to records and timing logs from the county detention center, the court sentencing entry, and ICE pickup documentation that could clarify who had the legal authority to hold Aguilar and when future transfer protocols might change.