A Republican-led House Judiciary Committee interim report released on Tuesday says the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office in Virginia ignored at least 1,670 immigration detainers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) between 2023 and 2025, releasing people back into the community instead of transferring them to federal custody.

The report, issued under Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and immigration subcommittee chairman Tom McClintock and obtained by Fox News before its release, also accuses Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano of treating noncitizen defendants differently from American citizens to limit their immigration consequences. The committee said a preliminary review of more than 1,100 criminal cases found more than 100 previously unreported cases that benefited from Descano's decisions, and that his office rarely pursued charges including driving under the influence, felony drug possession, grand larceny and assaulting a law enforcement officer — which the report called a "de facto" decriminalization of some offences. The report also alleges Descano misled Congress about the scope of the policy: he told the committee in May that it was written with legal permanent residents in mind for minor crimes, while a September letter acknowledged prosecutors could consider immigration consequences in cases involving people in the country illegally as well.

The report cited the case of Marvin Morales-Ortez, described as an alleged MS-13 member whose charges were dropped before the sheriff's office released him in December 2025; the report says he allegedly murdered a man in Reston, Virginia, one day later. It also highlighted the February fatal stabbing of Stephanie Minter, saying the suspect, Abdul Jalloh, had more than 40 prior charges in Fairfax County and that Descano's office had dropped charges in almost every case. Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid blamed the release on the lack of prosecution, writing that "the system must work as a whole." Descano has rejected the committee's allegations, saying the idea that his office favours one group over another is "completely wrong." Sources: House Judiciary Committee; Fox News.