DHS files immigration detention case for teens who fired guns on Virginia I-295

EXCLUSIVE: Hours after Virginia gubernatorial candidates Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger clashed over illegal immigration issues in Virginia, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital that it has filed an arrest request to deport two “rogue” teens, allegedly not controlled by the Biden administration, accused of firing guns on a busy suburban highway.

Earle-Sears, a legal immigrant from Jamaica, claimed Spanberger would make Virginia a “sanctuary state,” while the Democrat refuted that claim, saying she would “absolutely” cooperate with the federal government during formal criminal investigations involving illegal immigrants.

Two “illegal alien criminal thugs whipped” Interstate 295 near the Chickahominy River bridges east of Richmond, Virginia, “with complete disregard for the safety of Virginians” as they allegedly fired weapons on the usually busy bypass of the Old Dominion capital, DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia said Friday McLaughlin, at Fox News Digital.

McLaughlin said the two men would have been released “without review” under the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies, and that ICE filed a detention request after state authorities captured them and sent them to a juvenile prison in Williamsburg, Virginia.

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Interstate 95 meets Interstate 295 – the route around Richmond–Petersburg – at a major interchange near Glen Allen, Virginia. (Charlie Creitz/Fox News Digital)

“We are not going to allow criminal illegal aliens to terrorize American citizens,” McLaughlin said.

The two 17-year-old illegal immigrants from Honduras allegedly acquired a BMW and sped north on I-295 and attracted the attention of a Hanover County, Virginia, sheriff’s deputy who stopped another motorist several miles southwest of Old Church, Virginia.

DHS said the deputy noticed the BMW matched the description of the one advertised on the radio and the teens immediately led the officer on a chase.

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The teens eventually left the highway and crashed on a side street off Mechanicsville Turnpike, according to DHS, which otherwise could have taken them to downtown Richmond, Virginia.

The illegal immigrants were arrested and charged with shooting from a vehicle, possession of a firearm before age 18, possession of a firearm by an illegal alien and reckless handling of a firearm, according to a DHS release.

A Virginia State Police official told CBS Richmond that the quick arrest of the suspects demonstrated interagency cooperation between Virginia State Police and local authorities in Henrico and Hanover.

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Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Republican, left, is running against Democrat Abigail Spanberger, right, in the state’s 2025 gubernatorial race. (Kristen Zeis/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Interstate 295 is a busy alternative to Interstate 95, which passes through Richmond, Colonial Heights, and Petersburg, Virginia, while traffic bound for North Carolina or Washington, D.C., tends to use the higher speed alternative.