{"id":21,"date":"2026-05-19T16:39:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanhousingtransition.com\/?p=21"},"modified":"2026-05-19T16:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:39:18","slug":"fairfax-prosecutor-struggles-to-defend-lax-treatment-of-illegal-immigrants-in-heated-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanhousingtransition.com\/?p=21","title":{"rendered":"Fairfax Prosecutor Struggles to Defend Lax Treatment of Illegal Immigrants in Heated Hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano struggled to defend his office\u2019s lax treatment of illegal immigrants during a heated Thursday hearing on Capitol Hill, where he was joined by the mother of a woman who was recently murdered by an illegal alien.<\/p>\n

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The House Judiciary Committee asked Descano to testify in light of recent violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants in Fairfax County, including the brutal murder of\u00a0Stephanie Minter earlier this year at a Fairfax bus stop.<\/p>\n

Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone, was charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed Minter to death in February. Jalloh had countless of previous charges brought against him, including for egregious crimes such as aggravated assault, malicious wounding, and rape.<\/p>\n

Descano\u2019s office dropped more than half of these charges over the years, claiming Jalloh often chose victims who did not have permanent addresses, making the proceedings more difficult as authorities were unable to locate or contact victims.<\/p>\n

Minter\u2019s mother, Cheryl Minter, made an appeal for accountability at the hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here because these systems failed my daughter,\u201d Minter said. \u201cWhen warnings are ignored, families like mine pay the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCompassion should never come at the cost of public safety,\u201d she added. \u201cCare for one group should never come at the cost of another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Descano apologized to Minter for her loss in his opening statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply sorry for your loss. I say that as not only a prosecutor, but as a parent with a daughter,\u201d Descano said, sitting next to Minter. \u201cI promise, my office is doing everything we can to prosecute the man responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

But throughout the hearing Thursday, Descano attempted to skirt responsibility for Minter\u2019s death, among other examples of vicious crimes committed by illegal aliens in Fairfax, claiming he stands by Fairfax County\u2019s \u201cTrust Policy,\u201d which promises illegal immigrants in Fairfax can \u201caccess county benefits and services without fear that the information they share will be disclosed to federal immigration officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) on Thursday confronted Descano about a now-deleted statement on the prosecutor\u2019s website that said, \u201cOur office will take immigration consequences into account when making prosecuting decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf two people commit the same crime, but only one\u2019s punishment includes deportation, that\u2019s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County,\u201d Descano\u2019s website read<\/span>.<\/p>\n

But the statement, which had been present on Descano\u2019s site for six years, was removed from the website one week after the committee called on the prosecutor to testify.<\/p>\n

Descano pushed back on Thursday, asserting it was a campaign statement, not the policy his office follows.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t realize people were so obtuse that they could not realize what the difference between a campaign statement and an actual office policy is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Descano could not answer how many times his office took an illegal immigrant\u2019s status into account when prosecuting, but maintained that current policy says that no preferential treatment is given.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not protecting undocumented individuals, we prosecute people who commit crimes in Fairfax County regardless of their status,\u201d Descano said. \u201cICE\u2019s role is to do federal immigration enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security wanted to arrest Jalloh in the wake of Minter\u2019s murder, but Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger stood firm that ICE needed a judicial warrant to make the arrest, regardless of an alien\u2019s criminal history.<\/p>\n

Descano\u2019s office has also come under fire for its own refusal to cooperate with ICE detainer requests, and its general reluctance to share information with federal immigration officials.<\/p>\n

Descano on Thursday claimed many witnesses and potential jury members in Fairfax County are illegal immigrants, and if they fear deportation, his job as a prosecutor becomes much harder.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we don\u2019t have witnesses, that means, unfortunately, bad guys hit the streets again,\u201d Descano said during questioning. \u201cThis is what my trust policy is trying to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Descano\u2019s defense of the \u201cTrust Policy\u201d rests largely on the county\u2019s large proportion of illegal immigrants \u2014 if 20 percent of the county fears deportation, there are less people willing to come forward and speak with authorities. When his office does not help enforce federal immigration enforcement, Fairfax County is safer, Descano claimed.<\/p>\n

The Cato Institute\u2019s David Bier also testified during Thursday\u2019s hearing, noting \u201cAbout <\/span>1<\/span> in<\/span> 5<\/span> Fairfax<\/span> residents is someone who could be deported or lives with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cTrust Policy\u201d largely does not allow local police to contact ICE when they have an illegal alien in custody, and Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid does not honor ICE detainer requests.<\/p>\n

Kincaid also testified Thursday, and when asked if her office would coordinate with federal agents in deporting Jalloh, she said as long as she has the authority to do so, the sheriff\u2019s department will cooperate.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI would certainly hope this case would be prosecuted\u201d Kincaid said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano struggled to defend his office’s lax treatment of illegal immigrants during a heated Thursday hearing on Capitol Hill, where he was joined by the mother of a woman who was recently murdered by an illegal alien.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immigration"],"yoast_head":"\nFairfax Prosecutor Struggles to Defend Lax Treatment of Illegal Immigrants in Heated Hearing - American Housing Transition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanhousingtransition.com\/?p=21\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fairfax Prosecutor Struggles to Defend Lax Treatment of Illegal Immigrants in Heated Hearing - 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