ICE said it arrested Yinmi Molina-Zepeda in Woodbridge, Virginia, on May 6, 2026, identifying him as a Salvadoran national sought in El Salvador on an aggravated-homicide warrant. ICE also said he was wanted in connection with firearms and public-order offenses. Those allegations were reported by Cedar News and WJLA based on ICE's account.
WJLA reported that, according to ICE, Molina-Zepeda entered the United States in 2017 and was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that year. The agency also said the Department of Homeland Security dismissed his immigration proceedings in October 2023. WJLA reported that an immigration judge ordered him removed on June 26, 2026, and that he remained in ICE custody while appeals were pending. The available account does not identify the reason for the 2023 dismissal or provide the underlying Salvadoran warrant or immigration-court records.
What the proceeding record means
A dismissal ends removal proceedings but does not, by itself, give a person lawful immigration status, according to the Children's Immigration Law Academy. The available reporting does not establish why Molina-Zepeda's case was dismissed in 2023. The description of his alleged Salvadoran offenses and the account of his immigration history come from ICE and WJLA's report of the agency's statement, rather than from independently presented court or Salvadoran records.
The case therefore involves distinct questions: the Salvadoran warrant cited by ICE, the U.S. immigration proceeding that was dismissed, and the later removal order. ICE's account, as reported by WJLA, is the principal source for the chronology and does not include comment from Molina-Zepeda or an attorney representing him.
Prince William County's arrangements with federal immigration authorities have changed over time. A Prince William County internal audit dated Dec. 14, 2015, said ICE terminated its agreement with county police in 2012 and disbanded the police 287(g) unit, while the regional adult detention center continued its 287(g) program. The Prince William Times later reported that the county ended its 287(g) partnership in 2020 and that the jail thereafter reported people charged with felonies to federal immigration authorities before release, rather than every person without legal immigration status booked into the jail. Those reports describe changes in policy but do not, by themselves, establish how the county handled Molina-Zepeda's case.
Nationwide immigration-court data also cannot explain this individual case. The Executive Office for Immigration Review says its workload and adjudication statistics are updated and subject to change, and that its fiscal 2026 decision-outcome data concern initial decisions in removal, deportation and exclusion cases. The agency's aggregate data therefore should not be read as explaining the reason for an individual DHS dismissal.
