A 41-year-old El Salvadoran woman convicted in 2020 of misdemeanor assault, was arrested Feb. 25 by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Roxana Beatriz Ayala-Duran was found guilty in the Alexandria General District Court of misdemeanor assault, with 30 days in prison suspended. She also had unsupervised probation, according to court records.
“Ms. Ayala was convicted of a violent crime against a Virginia resident that we will not tolerate,” said Russ Hott, director of the D.C. field office for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.”
Hott continued, “The apprehension of Roxana Beatriz Ayala-Duran shows ICE is dedicated to arresting and removing illegal alien offenders from our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities.”
Increased ICE raids started in Northern Virginia last month, soon after President Donald Trump took office.
After the November 2024 general election, many leading politicians in the city declared that the city would not alter its progressive values.
ALXnow has reached out to Alexandria’s elected leaders regarding the arrest.
On March 6, Alexandria Congressman Don Beyer (D-8) stated that the raids were intended to instill fear and create photo ops for U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“We must be able to enforce the law and protect the public without creating a climate of fear,” Beyer said. “This week’s ICE enforcement activities in Northern Virginia were designed to instill fear and generate photo ops for Secretary Noem, not to make us safer.”
According to ICE:
The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Ayala Sept. 14, 2004, after she illegally entered the United States near Douglas, Arizona, and issued her a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge the next day.
The immigration judge ordered Ayala removed from the U.S. to El Salvador on Dec. 22, 2004.
ICE did not say where Ayala-Duran was arrested or list her current status.
In January, Mayor Alyia Gaskins announced that the Alexandria Police Department will not assist in ICE raids.
“While Federal officers may take enforcement actions in our City, the City of Alexandria does not participate in federal immigration enforcement,” Gaskins said. “We take great pride in the fact that we are a community that cares about one another,” Gaskins said. “Here in Alexandria, we will govern based on our values and facts. Our strength is in our ability to support one another and to uphold the values that make Alexandria the community we all choose to call home.”
