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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expressed outrage on social media Wednesday over Virginia's sanctuary policies, demanding Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger intervene to prevent the release of an illegal immigrant charged with the sexual battery of a 5-year-old girl.

Jose Nahun Aleman Hernandez, 43, of Woodbridge, was arrested June 3 by the Prince William Police Department and is charged with aggravated sexual battery.

According to the police report, the 5-year-old victim was at her babysitter's home when she was inappropriately touched by Hernandez, who was also inside the house.
Jose Nahun Aleman Hernandez

Authorities said the alleged abuse occurred over a period spanning from January 2023 to March 2026.

No physical injuries were reported by the child, according to the police report.
ICE office exterior

FILE - The Department of Homeland Security said the state of Virginia is not cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Hernandez received a $5,000 secured bond, sparking the agency's urgent public appeal to the governor to ensure he is not released back onto the streets.

"Sanctuary Spanberger’s REFUSAL to work with [ICE] has made Virginians less safe and the commonwealth a magnet for illegal alien crime," DHS wrote in the post.

Spanberger has not publicly responded, as of Wednesday afternoon.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger appointed an LGBTQ activist who pushed back against efforts to bar biological males from girls' bathrooms and locker rooms to a state advisory board that helps shape recommendations on LGBTQ-related policies.

Spanberger's appointment of Kellen MacBeth on May 22, who previously led the LGBTQ nonprofit Equality Arlington, follows a gubernatorial campaign during which she ran as a moderate and sidestepped questions about transgender participation in women's sports and access to female-only spaces.

MacBeth, the founder of Equality Arlington, has become one of Northern Virginia's most visible LGBTQ advocates. Under his leadership, Equality Arlington has urged Virginia school districts to implement policies allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their "gender identity" and has encouraged local governments to resist efforts to reverse those protections. The organization also advocated for preserving transgender-inclusive policies in Arlington Public Schools despite federal pressure to change them.

MacBeth has also opposed Virginia legislation that would require schools to notify parents when a student identifies as transgender or permit parents to exempt their children from classroom instruction involving LGBTQ-related topics.

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is warning that Virginia risks becoming "the next California" in the Trump administration's fight against resistance to federal immigration enforcement after filing a new lawsuit last week.

"We are suing Virginia to prevent Virginia from becoming the next sanctuary jurisdiction, just like California," DOJ Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Brett Shumate told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview.

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A top DOJ prosecutor responded to concerns raised by a Virginia resident and fellow Trump administration official over alleged slow-walking of background checks after a judge temporarily blocked a sweeping "assault weapons" ban that otherwise was set to take effect Wednesday.

The uproar comes as Richmond becomes the latest Democrat-run capital to pursue restrictions on Second Amendment-related activities. The Supreme Court's recent rulings against New York's and the District of Columbia's gun laws have given conservatives major legal victories in their efforts to challenge similar measures.

Amid Virginia's legal fight, critics accused state police of intentionally slow-walking background checks to effectively backdoor-enforce the law while it is litigated. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon responded that her office is "all over this" case and other instances of "gun-grabbing nonsense nationally."

Joined by Gun Owners of America, a Virginia resident seeking to purchase firearms from a dealer in Kilmarnock, Virginia, sued to block Richmond's new law imposing criminal penalties for selling or purchasing "assault firearm[s]," which critics said is a sweeping violation of the Second Amendment.