Fairfax County decided years ago that it would not help federal immigration officers take custody of people already in its jails. The results are now measured in the thousands. From 2023 through 2025 the county sheriff’s office declined at least 1,670 requests from immigration authorities to hold individuals already in custody. Those people walked back onto the streets of northern Virginia instead of being turned over for possible deportation. The number covers only the last three years. Earlier tallies from the same office show the same pattern running for longer.
How the Policy Works
In early 2021 the county board adopted a Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy. It bars most county employees, including police, from asking about or sharing a person’s immigration status unless a law, court order, or judicial warrant requires it. The sheriff’s office does not honor ordinary immigration detainers. Agents may enter the jail, but the facility will not hold someone past the end of a local charge solely because federal officers have asked for a short delay to pick the person up. The stated goal was to make immigrant residents feel safe using county services. The practical effect has been that people charged with crimes and already identified by federal officers are released when their local case ends or is dropped.
The Prosecutor’s Role
Steve Descano has served as the county’s chief prosecutor since 2020. For years his campaign materials stated that his office would make charging and plea decisions to limit or avoid immigration consequences for defendants. The written policy in his office treated those consequences as something to weigh on a sliding scale. He has said the approach applies to both legal permanent residents and people in the country illegally. In practice this has meant reduced or dropped charges in cases involving driving under the influence, felony drug possession, grand larceny, fraud, assault, and other offenses. A review of more than 1,100 criminal files found more than 100 cases in which individuals benefited from decisions that avoided or minimized the chance of deportation. Descano has told congressional investigators that his office does not give preferential treatment and that it prosecutes people who commit crimes in the county. He has also said that cooperating with federal immigration officers would make witnesses less willing to come forward.
Today the House Judiciary Committee released the results of its investigation into sanctuary policies in Fairfax County, VA and cited our research into Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano.
As we told the DOJ in 2023, Descano consistently gives favorable treatment to illegal alien defendants compared to similarly situated U.S. citizens; his office refused to prosecute and/or significantly reduced charges for criminal illegal aliens to prevent deportation.
The committee found Descano allowed multiple illegal aliens charged with malicious wounding, strangulation, and assault and battery to “escape accountability and reoffend.”
The committee also found Fairfax County, VA ignored at least 1,670 ICE detainers between 2023-2025—releasing criminal illegal aliens back into the community instead.
— Law Enforcement Legal Defense (@LELDF) October 20, 2026
What Happened After Releases
One man charged with assault and brandishing a firearm was released after the prosecutor’s office declined to pursue the case. Federal officers had placed a hold on him. The next day he was charged with second-degree murder in Reston. Another individual with a long arrest record, including prior violent charges that were reduced or dropped, was free when he was later accused of killing a young woman. Multiple cases involving child sex offenses saw local charges resolved or bond granted while detainers sat unheeded. A serial fraud case involving a foreign national saw more than 50 charges dropped. In each instance the person remained in the community rather than being transferred to federal custody.
Steve Descano—another NonAmerican democrat— ignores 1,670 illegal immigrant detainer requests over 2 years, House Judiciary Committee finds. Many of those immigrants went on to commit more crimes.
Descano should be disbarred. @ICEgov @SenatorBanks @VP @UVA
https://t.co/Q4ouLy4WKL #FoxNews
— Timothy McCain (@bikintim) October 20, 2026
The Scale and the Defense
Fairfax County is the most populous jurisdiction in Virginia. It has ranked among the highest in the country for declined immigration holds in recent multi-year reviews. In one stretch covering most of 2025 and the first months of 2026 the sheriff’s office declined hundreds of transfer requests and completed only a handful. County officials maintain that they follow required laws, that they prosecute local crimes, and that the policy protects public trust so victims will report offenses. They point to overall crime rates and say the approach has not made the county less safe. The records of the releases themselves show that people already charged with serious offenses were set free while federal officers waited outside the process.
The policy has been in place for more than five years. The count of ignored holds in the most recent three years alone exceeds 1,670. Those are the people the county chose not to hand over.
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