The Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into a Virginia prosecutor accused of giving criminal illegal immigrants preferential treatment—and the move is sending shockwaves through the legal system.
Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, dropped a bombshell letter Wednesday: her office is now probing whether Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano broke federal law by factoring “immigration consequences” into charging and plea decisions.
“I have authorized a full investigation to determine whether the office has engaged in unlawful discrimination,” Dhillon said, citing Title VI and the Safe Streets Act—both of which bar recipients of federal funds from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin.
The investigation zeroes in on a 2020 Fairfax policy that told prosecutors to weigh how a conviction could affect an immigrant’s life—including deportation—before making decisions.
Dhillon’s office is digging into whether Descano’s team has “engaged in a pattern or practice of depriving persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or federal law.”
This isn’t just a bureaucratic headache. Descano—the progressive top cop in Virginia’s most populous county—has faced relentless Republican backlash and congressional scrutiny for policies seen as coddling illegal immigrants.
His name exploded into national headlines after the 2026 murder of Stephanie Minter at a Fairfax bus stop. The suspect, Abdul Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national, had over two dozen prior arrests. Investigators discovered Descano’s office repeatedly dropped violent charges against Jalloh and ignored warnings he was dangerous.
The DOJ’s move escalates a simmering controversy into a full-blown firestorm. For now, the investigation’s outcome remains uncertain—but the stakes couldn’t be higher.
