Two-tiered justice: Local DAs shield noncitizens from immigration consequences

District attorneys across the country are accused of providing illegal immigrants preferential treatment when they commit crimes, allowing them to remain free in the country and put U.S. citizens’ lives at risk. The related reports seem to indicate that when the arrested person is a U.S. citizen, they are denied much of the leniency shown to illegal immigrants accused of the same crime.

The House Judiciary Committee and its Immigration Subcommittee released a report this week detailing how Arlington County, Virginia’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, “obstructs the enforcement of federal immigration law and shields foreign national criminals from accountability.” Dehghani-Tafti's campaign received $515,000 from George Soros-affiliated political entities, Fox News reported last October.

Congressional committee says policy ensures that certain foreign nationals are never convicted of DWI

“Democrats' open-borders policies and sanctuary jurisdictions have had devastating consequences for U.S. citizens. Even after the American people resoundingly rejected Democrats' pro-illegal alien policies in November 2024, Democrats across the country reinforced sanctuary policies to ensure that the millions of illegal aliens who entered the U.S. are never removed from the country,” the Committee wrote in its announcement of the report.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data contained within the report showed that sanctuary jurisdictions – cities that have vowed not to work with ICE – have declined at least 41,085 detainers between Oct. 2022 and early 2026.

The Judiciary Committee’s report included testimony from Dehghani-Tafti about her office’s policy to shift outcomes for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients charged with Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) to ensure they don’t lose their DACA status. “This policy ensures that certain foreign nationals are never convicted of DWI in Arlington County, [Virginia] solely due to their status as non-U.S. citizens,” the Committee wrote.

“Arlington County treats illegal aliens differently than similarly situated American citizens. Immigration-specific considerations, and the potential for a different prosecutorial outcome based on those immigration considerations, are not available to American citizens charged with similar crimes,” the Committee added.

Arlington County’s refusal to work with ICE also extends to cases involving felons and terrorists, the Committee found.

Lax treatment, tracking of illegal immigrants leads to deaths of American citizens

In neighboring Fairfax County, the situation is largely the same with Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who is under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible discrimination against American citizens. "This investigation will uncover whether this prosecutor is putting the community at risk in offering sweetheart deals to illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in May.

The investigation came several months after Stephanie Minter was murdered in Fairfax County, allegedly by Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant with a criminal history who has had nearly every charge against him dropped by Descano’s office. For his part, Descano denied wrongdoing and told a local news outlet that "my policies are fair, legal, and reflect the values of my community."

Across the country in Boulder County, Colorado, District Attorney Michael Dougherty’s published policy states that prosecutors in his jurisdiction must consider collateral effects when it comes to illegal immigrants committing certain crimes. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R.-Ohio, subpoenaed Dougherty last week regarding alleged preferential treatment to illegal immigrants. Jordan’s Committee had been trying to get records and information from Dougherty’s office for months, but the DA kept refusing.

In Denver, the Judiciary Committee sent a letter to DA John Walsh citing similar collateral consequences for illegal immigrants.

“Under your leadership, the Denver District Attorney’s Office undermines the rule of law under the guise of safeguarding the public. For years, in fact, your office has openly given preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status,” Jordan wrote to Walsh in May. “In 2019, your predecessor implemented a policy to consider a criminal defendant’s immigration status when making prosecution decisions. Noting that ‘[d]ifferent individuals charged with the same crime may face markedly different consequences depending upon various factors, including an individual’s immigration status,’ the former District Attorney directed the office to ‘take reasonable steps to mitigate [immigration] consequences” for criminal aliens.’”

In 2017, illegal immigrant Ever Valles shot and killed 32-year-old landscaper Timothy Cruz. Valles had previously been protected from an ICE detainer when he was released from prison without officials informing ICE, per sanctuary city policy.

Jordan accused Walsh of continuing that policy and demanded documents and information relating to the DA office’s interactions with ICE and the prosecution of illegal immigrants.

Philadelphia’s DA Larry Krasner also uses the policy that “low-level and nonviolent crimes should not lead to deportation or necessarily risk one’s immigration status.” Jordan also subpoenaed his office in May.

DA caught boasting about "criminal aliens being released onto Philadelphia streets, free to reoffend" Jordan says

“In fact, you created an Immigration Counsel position within your office to evaluate cases involving non-U.S. citizens so that foreign nationals ‘can avoid unnecessary and unjust consequences’ — in other words, to shield criminal aliens from deportation,” Jordan wrote. “You also openly boast about how your policies have resulted in criminal aliens being released onto Philadelphia streets, free to reoffend. Even in cases involving murder or crimes against minors, a prosecutor in your office may still consider a criminal alien’s potential deportation or other immigration consequences in making prosecution decisions.”

In New York, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez hired two immigration attorneys to advise prosecutors specifically on plea offers and sentencing for illegal immigrants, potentially reducing charges to avoid deportation.

In California, Los Angeles and Contra Costa County each have DAs that consider a person’s legal status when charging them for a crime. Former L.A. DA George Gascon was defeated in the 2024 election in part due to his lax policies toward criminals, including illegal immigrants. While he was DA of San Francisco in 2015, a five-time deported Mexican immigrant murdered 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle. The immigrant, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 45, was later acquitted of murder and involuntary manslaughter charges, as well as assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors convicted the Mexican citizen of being a felon in possession of a firearm, which could bring a three-year sentence.

Multnomah County in Oregon's policy also states that consequences should be roughly equal for U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants, meaning deportation is to be avoided.

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