The House Judiciary Committee is targeting all three of Arlington’s main criminal justice agencies over local policies that restrict contact with immigration enforcement.
In separate letters to the Arlington County Police Department, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the committee took issue with the limits that these agencies have placed on their cooperation with immigration officers, arguing that such policies endanger the public.
Coming amid another dispute between the Judiciary Committee and Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, the letters reference two recent incidents in which undocumented immigrants are accused of reoffending after being released from Arlington’s judicial system. They request a variety of documents related to local agencies’ policies and interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of state and local jurisdictions that endanger American communities through their refusal to cooperate with federal immigration officials and their prioritization of illegal and criminal aliens over American citizens,” wrote Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement. “We write to request information about your office’s sanctuary policies, which ultimately endanger the communities you serve.”
Jordan and McClintock sent similar letters to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid back in January. According to WJLA, Descano and Kincaid are scheduled to testify at a hearing on Capitol Hill later this month.
ARLnow has reached out to ACPD, the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for comment on the letters, which went out this morning. These agencies have for years stood behind policies that restrict or prohibit contact with immigration authorities unless expressly required by law.
The Arlington County Board ended all voluntary contact between ACPD and ICE last May, arguing that the county’s “trust policy” strengthens trust in law enforcement in immigrant communities — where advocates say some crime victims may be afraid to call the police for fear of deportation or other consequences.
The Arlington County Sheriff’s Office likewise stopped honoring ICE detainer requests in late 2022, requiring a judicially signed warrant to facilitate transferring custody to ICE.
The Judiciary Committee also referenced promises that Dehghani-Tafti made while campaigning in 2019, pledging to take immigration status into account when making charging decisions for minor infractions and to never enter any cooperation agreement with ICE. Her campaign website references efforts to protect people’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status and pursue “resolutions that avoid deportation.”
Since President Donald Trump took office, Dehghani-Tafti has been particularly vocal in her criticisms of ICE, rallying with protesters after an immigration officer fatally shot 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good in January and helping to establish a coalition of progressive prosecutors pledging to pursue accountability for any illegal actions by federal agents.
“Under your office’s pro-crime, pro-illegal immigration policies, illegal alien criminals are allowed to freely operate, terrorize local communities, and reoffend without consequences,” Jordan and McClintock wrote in their letter to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. “Like other sanctuary jurisdictions we have examined, the shielding of criminal aliens from immigration enforcement in Arlington County undermines public safety and thwarts the efficient enforcement of federal law.”
The letters reference two recent incidents in which undocumented immigrants are accused of committing crimes after being released from Arlington’s judicial system.
One of the incidents took place last month, when Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran is accused of assaulting and attempting to rape a woman in an early-morning attack in Clarendon.
A criminal complaint states that the victim rebuffed a sexual advance and “was trying to scare him off” when Garcia Moran grabbed her, shoved her into a wall and punched her multiple times in the back of the head. According to police, the victim ultimately escaped by breaking free, yelling for help and receiving assistance from two bystanders.
Garcia Moran’s probation officer had previously warned that the suspect was “a danger to self and others” after being arrested on public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges last year. He was later arrested for attempting to disarm an Arlington police officer of his service weapon while he was apparently intoxicated, according to court documents.
Garcia Moran’s most recent arrest prompted condemnation from the Department of Homeland Security last month.
“ICE Washington has lodged a detainer against Garcia’s release,” Enforcement and Removal Operations acting Executive Associate Director Marcos Charles said in a press release. “We hope Arlington County does the right thing by not allowing this sex predator back onto the streets to victimize more innocent Virginians.”
The Judiciary Committee’s letter to the sheriff’s office also referenced the immigration arrest of David Cabrera outside the Arlington County magistrate’s office last July. Cabrera had previously pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl in the Buckingham neighborhood in November 2014.
ICE had already deported Cabrera two times — once after his initial arrest, and again in 2020 after he was arrested again and found guilty of a probation violation.
“Arlington County’s sanctuary policies endanger the communities you serve,” Jordan and McClintock wrote in their letter to ACPD. “Like other sanctuary jurisdictions we have examined, the shielding of criminal aliens from immigration enforcement in Arlington County undermines public safety and thwarts the efficient enforcement of federal law.”
Before these letters went out, the Judiciary Committee was already involved in another legal conflict with Dehghani-Tafti over her handling of a case involving the search and seizure of an activist’s cellphone. That dispute has been unfolding over the course of several months, and in March it escalated to the committee subpoenaing Dehghani-Tafti for numerous documents.
