Virginia sanctuary county ignores 1,670 detainer requests over 2 years, House Judiciary Committee finds

A House Judiciary Committee interim staff report says the Fairfax County, Virginia, sheriff's office disregarded at least 1,670 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers across 2023 to 2025. Rather than handing the individuals to federal authorities, the office let them go back into the community. Fox News obtained the document ahead of its Tuesday release by the panel's immigration subcommittee, which Representative Tom McClintock of California chairs under Committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio, both Republicans.

The findings also target Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano. Investigators say his office handled illegal immigrant defendants differently from American citizens in comparable situations, a practice they say softened immigration fallout. A preliminary look at over 1,100 prosecutions turned up more than 100 previously unreported illegal immigrants who gained from his decisions. According to the committee, his office seldom pursued cases involving offenses such as drunk driving, felony drug possession, shoplifting and fraud, which it described as de facto decriminalization. It adds that most of those defendants committed new offenses, and some moved on to violent crime and murder.

The Republican authors argue Fairfax is not unique but typical of Democratic sanctuary policies, and they say oversight will continue to inform possible legislation.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →