The Fairfax County prosecutor, Virginia, Steve Descano, is facing strong criticism from Republican lawmakers who accuse him of obstructing a congressional investigation into a preferential deal that his office allegedly granted to defendants who are illegally in the United States.
The House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation earlier this year to determine whether Fairfax prosecutors have offered more favorable plea deals, requested lesser prison sentences, or dropped charges against foreign nationals in irregular status in circumstances that would not apply in the same way to U.S. citizens.
The committee chairman, Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, and the chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, Tom McClintock, a Republican from California, sent letters to Descano in January and June requesting documents regarding his office's policies for prosecuting foreign defendants.
In a new letter sent this week, both lawmakers accused the Democratic prosecutor of deliberately blocking the investigation by refusing to provide the requested documents. According to Jordan and McClintock, Descano has argued that Congress lacks the authority to oversee the actions of a local prosecutor handling cases in state courts.
Virginia's Democratic prosecutor, Steve Descano, was accused of granting preferential treatment to illegal immigrants
Republicans rejected that interpretation and maintained that Congress's oversight powers are broad, especially when a state issue has implications for federal interests. In their view, the policies of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions can directly interfere with federal immigration laws.
Jordan and McClintock specifically pointed out that a decision not to prosecute or to prosecute less severely foreign nationals could contribute to avoiding immigration consequences and, therefore, affect Congress's constitutional authority over immigration. They also raised the possibility that any preferential treatment based on nationality or immigration status could create issues under federal civil rights laws.
Criticism of Descano intensified following the murder of Stephanie Minter, a woman who was stabbed at a bus stop in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Abdul Jalloh, a citizen of Sierra Leone, was arrested for the crime and, according to authorities cited in the investigation, was illegally in the United States.
Jalloh, 32, had over 30 prior arrests before Minter's death. However, Descano's office had dropped charges against him on several occasions. The case raised questions about whether the prosecutor's decisions contributed to him remaining free before the attack.
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan requested details from Descano about his policies, which were never answered
During a hearing before the House Immigration Subcommittee in May, the victim's mother, Cheryl Minter, blamed the failures of the justice system for missing the opportunity to prevent the tragedy.
''This is an experience I will never have again,'' Minter said while remembering her daughter and lamenting the consequences of the decisions made prior to the murder.
Other lawmakers also presented examples showing a troubling pattern in the actions of the Fairfax prosecutor's office. Representative Brandon Gill, a Republican from Texas, stated during the hearing that Descano helped in 2024 a foreign national accused of raping a minor by offering a plea deal that reduced the charges and ended with a suspended sentence, thus avoiding an effective prison term.
Texas Republican Congressman Brandon Gill claimed that Descano in 2024 helped an illegal immigrant accused of raping a minor
Representative Brad Knott, a Republican from North Carolina, pointed to another case that occurred in 2023. According to the lawmaker, Descano's office dropped charges against a foreign national accused of kidnapping a four-year-old girl with the intent to sexually assault her, after attempting to offer a plea deal considered especially favorable.
These cases have made Descano a target of increasing criticism from Republicans who question the progressive criminal processing policies applied in Fairfax. Lawmakers argue that the investigation seeks to determine whether those policies have allowed defendants who are illegally in the country to receive more lenient treatment and avoid immigration consequences.
For now, the accusations are part of a congressional investigation and do not constitute a judicial determination that Descano has violated the law. However, Jordan and McClintock are maintaining pressure to obtain the requested documents and warn that the prosecutor's refusal to cooperate constitutes an obstacle to clarifying whether his office has applied different criteria to foreigners and U.S. citizens.
Descano has several accusations of preferential treatment towards illegal immigrants who have committed horrific crimes
