The White House has declared that the undocumented immigrant accused of beheading the Iwo Jima monument has had his “dream” ended by the Trump administration.
Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, fired back in a statement Friday after learning that the suspect had previously received protected status under two Democratic presidents. “This criminal illegal alien’s dream is over: Maldonado Soriano disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice,” she wrote.
Rogers continued in the same statement, tying the case to broader border politics. “President Trump has secured our border and is deporting illegal criminals who hate our country and our values. The socialist Democrats want to go back to open borders and flood our communities with dangerous criminal illegal aliens.”
The suspect, Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, entered the United States illegally from Mexico as a child in 1999, according to an administration official. A second source familiar with his immigration record indicated that Soriano was granted permission to remain in the country through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2014, during the Obama administration.
That DACA status received an extension in 2024 under then-President Biden, the same source noted. The protection was later revoked during Trump’s second term.
Soriano now sits without bond at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center, a facility representative confirmed Friday. Local authorities have charged him with felony destruction of property and trespassing with intent to damage property.
The attack occurred Tuesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, roughly 36 miles south of Washington, D.C. Soriano allegedly used a sledgehammer to strike the limestone sculpture, which depicts six servicemen raising the American flag. The assault decapitated one of the six figures and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, according to police.
The monument holds particular resonance in military history. Sculptor Felix de Weldon created the piece in 1954, and it stands as a tribute to all Marines who have died defending the United States since 1775. The Quantico installation replicates the iconic image captured by the outlet photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945, when Marines and a Navy corpsman raised the flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. That original photograph became one of the most reproduced images of World War II and inspired the larger Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery.
Soriano’s court proceedings are expected to continue in Prince William County as federal immigration authorities also review his case.