Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said on May 6 that his office considers immigration consequences when making charging and plea decisions, responding to criticism that his policies allowed a man with more than 30 prior arrests to avoid deportation before he was charged with murder.
“If two people commit the same crime, but only one’s punishment includes deportation, that’s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County,” Descano said on his campaign website, according to Restoration News.
The issue has gained attention after the fatal stabbing of local resident Stephanie Minter by Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant with more than 30 prior arrests. Restoration News reported that, despite alleged police warnings that he posed a threat to the community, Descano’s office dismissed the violent charges against him.
The Department of Justice opened an investigation into whether prosecutors in Fairfax County have offered preferential treatment to illegal immigrant defendants to avoid triggering deportation through sentences of over one year or aggravated felony convictions. The probe follows similar investigations into other progressive prosecutors whose approaches have been linked to rising recidivism among noncitizen offenders nationwide, as reported by the New York Post.
Descano was elected as the Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2019 after narrowly defeating the incumbent. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, reported that two-thirds of his campaign funding came from political action committees linked to George Soros. The institute also claims he has implemented reforms focused on reducing incarceration rates and considering collateral immigration consequences during case handling.
