Steve Descano, the commonwealth’s attorney in Fairfax County, Virginia, was grilled by lawmakers on Thursday during a heated congressional hearing on why he quietly removed a long-standing statement from his campaign website promising that he would grant leniency to illegal immigrants accused of crimes.“Mr. Descano, why’d you change your website?” asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, at Thursday’s immigration enforcement subcommittee hearing, titled “Fairfax County, Virginia: The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary Policies.”Descano recently deleted a page on his campaign site declaring that, as the sanctuary county’s top prosecutor, he will take a lenient approach to prosecuting illegal immigrants.
According to the now-nixed statement, Descano would weigh “immigration consequences” during the charging process and plea deals with illegal immigrants, pledging to mitigate or outright avoid the “collateral” consequences for illegal immigrants when possible.
“Steve’s office will take immigration consequences into account when making charging and plea decisions,” Descano’s campaign website previously read. “Although prosecutors typically refer to immigration consequences as ‘collateral consequences,’ avoiding the unnecessary destruction of families and communities will be a top priority for Steve as Commonwealth’s Attorney. Wherever possible, Steve will make charging and plea decisions that limit or avoid immigration consequences.”
