House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, tussled with high-profile Soros-backed Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephen Descano over soft-on-crime policies that critics said let illegal immigrant criminals back on the street.
Descano was seated two spots away from Cheryl Minter, mother of Stephanie Minter, who was allegedly murdered by Sierra Leone national Abdul Jalloh at a bus stop not far from George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Minter’s case, following several similar incidents and the failure by Descano or fellow witness Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid to honor ICE detainers, spurred lawmakers to haul them across the river to testify about the rapidly deteriorating safety of what the prosecutor called one of America’s safest counties.
Jordan began by pressing Kincaid on why she “let” illegal immigrant suspect Marvin Morales-Ortiz out of her jail: “Because the guy beside you wouldn’t prosecute him, right?”
“You’d have to talk to him,” Kincaid replied, adding a judge later ordered his release, before bristling at Jordan’s follow-up question about law enforcement morale in Fairfax.
Jordan then turned to Descano, questioning changes to language on his website about considering immigration consequences in charging decisions.
Descano said the excerpt was part of a “campaign” statement and not an actual law enforcement policy, leading Jordan to incredulously ask whether people should believe his campaign statements will translate into policies upon election.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Descano countered.
“This is almost laughable,” said Jordan. “This is your policy. You said it right here. You told the voters, if you elect me, I will take into account immigration consequences when making, charging and pleading [decisions].”
Descano’s exchange with next Republican to ask questions, Rep. Jeff Van Drew of South Jersey, also quickly escalated into near-shouting.
Van Drew criticized sanctuary policies, including in his home Garden State, and told Minter that his own condolences could not do justice to what happened to her daughter in Descano’s territory.
He called the conditions in sanctuary jurisdictions “bizarro world” and asked the prosecutor if communities are safer when illegal immigrant criminals are deported or when they are released.
“Well, sir, that’s not –” Descano began before Van Drew cut him off. “Yes or no – I’m asking the questions.”
“You’re a human being. You’re sitting next to a woman who lost her daughter. Can you tell me if illegal criminals are removed from the country; if we’re safer,” Van Drew said, prompting a fiery response from Descano:
“To suggest I don’t care about what happens in my community…” he began before more crosstalk ensued.
“Dammit, answer my question,” Van Drew eventually fumed.
GRIEVING VIRGINIA MOTHER TELLS FAR-LEFT PROSECUTOR ‘DO YOUR JOB’ AFTER DAUGHTER STABBED TO DEATH
“Explain to the lady next to you (Cheryl Minter). Abdul Jalloh was charged in your county more than 40 times. Not four times. 40 times. Your office dropped the charges in almost every single case. That’s fact. We have it documented. We can look at it your own. Fairfax County Police Department wrote your office [in] May 2025 saying he had shown a, quote, ‘blatant disregard for human life and was a danger to the community’ and that if he wasn’t detained and deported, he would seriously hurt someone or kill someone,” Van Drew said.
“The very man went out and then killed someone. So the question is, couldn’t’ve we done better there?”
Another panelist also elicited occasional rifts with the lawmakers. Libertarian analyst David Bier of the Cato Institute often defended the idea of counties making their own decisions about whether to cooperate with federal law enforcement.
Part of Bier’s opening statement drew some eyebrows on X, as he appeared to suggest as much as 20% of Fairfax County’s population is deportable – when trying to argue against mass deportation.
“The first step would be to give up on the mass deportation fantasy. About 1 in 5 Fairfax residents is someone who could be deported or who lives with them. It would destroy neighborhoods, rip Americans away from their spouses, parents, friends, families, customers, employees, employers, nurses, nannies, and teachers,” Bier said.
Bier also accused DHS of ignoring the Laken Riley Act and instead of “racially profiling Americans at Home Depot” and shooting people like Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
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