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Fairfax County’s chief prosecutor and sheriff pushed back Thursday against Republican claims that their immigration policies endanger residents and give preferential treatment to people living in the United States illegally.
The tense congressional hearing put Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano at the center of the national fight over immigration enforcement. Republicans accused his office and Fairfax County of following sanctuary policies and failing to cooperate fully with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, also accused Democrats of seeking to defund ICE.
“But Mr. Descano takes it even a step further and says I’m not even going to prosecute the guys who do terrible things,” Jordan said.
Descano denied that characterization, saying his office prosecutes people who commit crimes regardless of their backgrounds.
“Our approach to prosecution of crime has helped make Fairfax County one of the safest jurisdictions of its size in the country,” he said.
Mother demands accountability after daughter’s killing
The hearing came months after Stephanie Minter was killed Feb. 23 while waiting at a bus stop along Route 1 in Hybla Valley.
Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old immigrant from Sierra Leone, is scheduled to stand trial on a murder charge in Minter’s death. Descano offered condolences to Minter’s mother, Cheryl, during the hearing and emphasized that Jalloh is being prosecuted.
Cheryl Minter spoke tearfully about her daughter and called for accountability.
“I am not here for politics. I am here for accountability. I am here because a system failed my daughter,” she said.
At another point in the hearing, Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, a former sheriff, called Descano “a disgrace.”
Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid joined Descano in defending the county’s approach.
“It is simply not the job of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office to engage in federal immigration enforcement,” Kincaid said.
Kincaid said the county cooperates with ICE on various matters and allows federal agents to enter its facility “at any time.” She and Descano said their offices enforce criminal laws but do not take on federal civil immigration enforcement.
“Let me be absolutely clear. My office does not provide sanctuary or safe harbor to undocumented immigrants,” Descano testified. “We routinely prosecute immigrants who commit crimes and we will continue to do so.”
Justice Department examines plea-bargaining policy
The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into Descano earlier this month.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division told Descano in a letter that the department is examining whether his office violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act or the Safe Streets Act. Both laws prohibit recipients of federal financial assistance from discriminating based on race, color or national origin.
The scrutiny includes a plea-bargaining policy Descano’s office adopted in 2020. The guidelines instruct assistant Commonwealth’s attorneys to “consider immigration consequences where possible” and weigh the collateral immigration effects of the specific charges against a defendant.
The webpage describing that policy is no longer publicly accessible on the office’s website.
Jalloh had been arrested and released multiple times before Minter’s killing. Most recently, he had been released on his own recognizance following a 2025 malicious-wounding arrest.
After the Justice Department announced its investigation, Descano defended his policies as reflecting a community where three in 10 residents are immigrants. He repeated that point at Thursday’s hearing, arguing that prosecutors depend on community members as eyewitnesses and need them to trust local law enforcement and the courts.