Fairfax prosecutor Steve Descano faces DOJ probe request over immigrant cases

SPECIAL: A pro-police group will demand the Justice Department investigate a Virginia prosecutor accused of being unfairly lenient on illegal immigrant suspects by using an oversight law the Biden administration has used to review police departments like the one in Kentucky. the Breonna Taylor event.

The law enforcement “pattern or practice” provision under 34 USC 12601 has previously been used to investigate alleged civil rights violations by police departments under Biden — after an arrest warrant was issued in Louisville, leading to a confrontation that led to Taylor’s death.

It has also been used against departments in New Jersey, Mississippi and Tennessee, as well as a division of the NYPD, for claims ranging from excessive force to gender discrimination to allegations of illegal traffic stops.

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On Wednesday, the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF) told Fox News Digital that it would ask the Trump Justice Department to use the same law from a different angle to investigate progressive Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano in Virginia.

Descano, taken at least $600,000 A political action committee funded by George Soros recently came under fire during his 2019 primary campaign in Virginia’s largest district for failing to prosecute an illegal immigrant who allegedly killed someone a day after his release.

LELDF’s request “seeks to use established federal civil rights tools to test whether a prosecutor’s office operates a discriminatory system that endangers the public and erodes equal justice under the law,” Jason C. Johnson, the group’s president, told Fox News Digital.

LELDF officials will formally ask Deputy Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon to investigate Descano’s office under the same “pattern or practice” concerns that Biden’s Justice Department in Louisville has.

LELDF claims Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office ‘violated'[ed] defends the civil rights of U.S. citizens by favoring illegal aliens and noncitizens in charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing decisions.”

They cited Descano’s “official policy” of considering “immigration consequences” when prosecuting cases.

A passage on Descano’s campaign page reads: “As a federal prosecutor, Steve protected immigrants from criminals who targeted them because of their immigration status…Steve knows that all of our neighbors deserve equal protection from and equal access to the law, regardless of immigration status.”

While Descano supported the policy, he said, “The fear of law enforcement that Donald Trump has fostered in immigrant communities will only lead to increased crime.”

“In addition to providing a safe haven, Steve’s office will take immigration consequences into account when making charging and plea decisions. Although prosecutors often refer to immigration consequences as ‘collateral consequences,’ avoiding the needless destruction of families and communities will be a top priority for Steve as the Commonwealth’s Attorney. Wherever possible, Steve will make charging and plea decisions that limit or avoid immigration consequences.”

LELDF argued that such prosecutorial discretion was unlawful. Their letter to Dhillon.

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Marvin Morales-Ortez was arrested by Fairfax County Police. (DHS)

They noted the case of Marvin Morales-Ortez, who reportedly had first-degree murder charges stemming from an incident that Descano’s office dropped in 2019; which told Washington’s ABC affiliate that his evidence showed “it was clear that he was ultimately not the perpetrator who killed Mr. Ortez.” [Jose] Guillen Mejia.”

Outlet reporter Nick Minock later obtained a transcript of Morales-Ortez’s preliminary hearing, in which Descano’s office suggested Morales-Ortez was present when Guillen Mejia was killed and ambushed the man on the hiking trail.

Shortly after his release, Morales-Ortez allegedly went to a home on Fan Shell Court in Reston, Virginia, near John F. Dulles International Airport and allegedly shot a man inside.

This chain of events angered the Trump administration, with DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin saying: “Fairfax County politicians [who] push[ed] Implementing the policies that released this illegal alien from prison “has blood on their hands.”

In the letter, LELDF argued that “dozens of illegal aliens like Morales-Ortez have repeatedly been subjected to overindulgence.” [Fairfax] “Under the direction of Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.”

They pointed directly to a passage from a 2020 memo by Descano, similar to his campaign page: “[Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys] “It will take into account the consequences of migration where possible and equitable.”

LELDF argued that the memo and the policy it conveyed directly violated the Constitution and denied U.S. citizens equal protection under the law from illegal immigrants.

Steve Descano speaks at an event at the Center for American Progress on December 17, 2019. (Getty Images)

“It is both immoral and illegal for a government agency to systematically discriminate against U.S. citizens for the benefit of those who are there illegally,” the group told Dhillon. he said.

They argued that the memorandum represented the necessary basis for a federal investigation, while also objecting to Fairfax’s “explicit policy directing prosecutors to weigh immigration consequences, including the ‘harmful impact’ of deportation on families and communities, and not ensuring better outcomes for nonimmigrants.”

In a more comprehensive excerpt from the memo, Descano says that when the seriousness of a crime and its harm are significant, the weight of “potential adverse immigration consequences” should be “minimal,” while the opposite is true for “less serious” crimes and crimes “without an identifiable victim.”

In such cases, junior prosecutors should “have greater latitude in negotiating a decision that takes into account adverse immigration consequences.”

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Descano also bristled at the idea of ​​being tied to Soros, although his office did not respond to a request for comment; fired back at a senior Youngkin administration official who recently blamed prosecutors with ties to the Hungarian-American financier for the crime crisis.

“I’m not a ‘Soros-funded prosecutor,’ I’m the CA of Fairfax County, where the murder rate is 75% lower than in the entire Commonwealth. Maybe [she] “He should look at the numbers (especially since he works in public safety) before making such a ridiculous claim,” Descano tweeted in 2022.