The House Judiciary Committee is probing Arlington County over policies that protect illegal immigrants, saying the local prosecutor has “weaponized” her office by treating them more lightly than legal residents.
Lawmakers demanded answers Monday from Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti as well as the county’s elected sheriff and appointed police chief, who also came under fire for lenient policies that have protected illegal immigrants.
The police and sheriff’s departments refuse cooperation with Homeland Security on identifying and turning over deportation targets, while Ms. Dehghani-Tafti has instructed her prosecutors to consider the side effects on someone’s immigration status when making charging decisions, the Judiciary Committee said.
“Like other sanctuary jurisdictions we have examined, the shielding of criminal aliens from immigration enforcement in Arlington County undermines public safety and thwarts the efficient enforcement of federal law,” wrote Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Tom McClintock of California — the chairmen, respectively, of the full committee and the immigration subcommittee.
They sought documents detailing the offices’ interaction with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, policies governing encounters with noncitizens and cases where immigration status was used to affect charging or bond decisions.
The Washington Times has reached out to the three Arlington agencies for this story.
In letters to the officials, Mr. Jordan and Mr. McClintock cited a 2025 case where they said the sheriff’s office released a twice-deported illegal immigrant who was convicted of attempted rape, rather than comply with an ICE deportation detainer request.
They also cited a case from last month in which a man was charged with assault in an attempted rape.
The suspect, Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran, an illegal immigrant, had a number of previous encounters with authorities, including one in which he tried to grab an officer’s gun. He was protected by a “sweetheart plea deal” that put him back on the streets, the lawmakers said.
“Under your office’s pro-crime, pro-illegal immigration policies, illegal alien criminals are allowed to freely operate, terrorize local communities, and reoffend without consequences,” the lawmakers told Ms. Dehghani-Tafti.
