The Justice Department alerted Fairfax County’s elected prosecutor on Wednesday that he is now under investigation for civil rights “misconduct” for going too easy on immigrants when his office decides how to prosecute cases.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter informing Steve Descano, the commonwealth’s attorney, that they have just opened the probe and have not reached any conclusions. She invited his cooperation.
She said the focus of the probe is Mr. Descano’s 2020 policy that directs his prosecutors to consider “collateral immigration consequences” when thinking about what charges to pursue.
“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow local prosecutors to pick and choose winners based on their immigration status,” Ms. Dhillon said. “This investigation will uncover whether this prosecutor is putting the community at risk in offering sweetheart deals to illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes.”
In her letter to Mr. Descano, she said they are probing whether the memo and the office’s prosecutorial decisions violate the Safe Streets Act or the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits any organization that receives federal support from engaging in discrimination based on race, color or national origin.
The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Descano’s office for comment.
Mr. Descano and, more broadly, Fairfax County have become a major target for the Trump administration as it pushes for better cooperation from local authorities in its immigration crackdown.
Homeland Security regularly dings the county, and Mr. Descano in particular, for failing to pursue to the fullest extent cases against illegal immigrants.
Last year, that included Hyrum Baquedano Rodriguez, a Honduran immigrant who was charged with breaking into a home and attempting to abduct and “defile” a 4-year-old. Mr. Descano’s office tried to offer a lenient plea deal then, after two judges rejected that deal as too lenient, he dropped the case altogether.
His office blamed the judges and “evidentiary issues” for the mess.
Then, in December, the county released Marvin Morales-Ortez after Mr. Descano’s office said it couldn’t pursue a case against him of brandishing a gun and assaulting and injuring a victim. His office said a key witness was out of the country, ruining the case.
A day after his release, Mr. Morales-Ortez would slay a man at a residence in Reston, authorities charged.
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have also been investigating Mr. Descano over Mr. Morales-Ortez’s case.
DOJ, in announcing the probe Wednesday, said probes such as this one often result in settlements that prod departments into making reforms.
