Report says Descano's immigration policy covers all non-citizens, contrary to May testimony

The testimony. At a May 14, 2026 hearing of the House immigration subcommittee, the report says, Descano described his policy as "narrow." He testified: "First of all, let me be clear. My policy that we're talking about was written with legal permanent residents in mind for minor crimes."

The letter. The report says that "after months of refusing to clarify" whether the policy covered people without legal status, Descano acknowledged in a Sept. 7, 2026 letter that his office's consideration of collateral immigration consequences is "not limited to any category of immigrants." The committee says that means prosecutors may also consider immigration consequences in cases involving people in the country illegally.

The policy. The report describes Descano's written office policy as taking "immigration consequences into account when making charging and plea decisions." It says the same letter argued that the policy does not extend to dropped charges, a limitation the committee says is not in the written policy.

The report does not say how many cases involving people without legal status were affected. That case list is the subject of the committee's subpoena.

The report was prepared by the committee's Republican majority staff and relies in part on nonpublic records the committee says are on file with it. Those records have not been released. All News Virginia has requested comment from the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and will update this story if it responds.

Source: "Fairfax County, Virginia: The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary Policies," interim staff report of the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, released Oct. 20, 2026.Read the report (PDF).

Fairfax County is a county in Northern Virginia. Its county seat is Fairfax, an independent city.