Fairfax County in Virginia is the Third Most Prolific Sanctuary Jurisdiction According to a Study

washingtontimes.com

Fairfax County, Virginia ranks third in a list of sanctuary jurisdictions. The county jail has refused to comply with more than 1,150 “detainers” from the Department of Homeland Security during the last 2 1/2 years.

Prince William County, Virginia is also ranked high at number 24. The Center for Immigration Studies, based on U.S. Census data, compiled the top 24 list. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data.

Santa Clara County in California led with almost 3,000 detainers declined, followed by Cook County Jail, Illinois, and Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

California counties are the top 30 with over 13,000 detainers. Other surprises include Hennepin County, Minnesota, and Teton County, Wyoming.

The list included 72 targets for deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement who were convicted of homicide or had charges against them but were not released.

Illinois River Correctional Center is the leader with six. Santa Clara County had six jails, divided between two jails.

According to data, Fairfax County had two of these releases. Baltimore County Detention Center and Gaithersburg Police Department, as well as Howard County Detention Center in Maryland, were all listed for releasing ICE targets who had homicide records.

Detainers, or requests for detention, are requests by ICE that other law enforcement agencies notify deportation agents before an ICE-target is released from their custody. If possible, the target should be held for up to 48 hour for pickup.

In the last few years, different jurisdictions have started to resist in varying degrees. Some jurisdictions will notify, but refuse to keep the documents beyond their regular release period. Some jurisdictions do not notify. Others will only cooperate in more serious cases.

Jessica Vaughan is the author of the report and she said that some jurisdictions were on the list despite the fact that they are located in states where non-cooperation laws exist.

Ms. Vaughan stated that “sanctuary policies continue undermine public safety in numerous communities, despite many tragedies. This is due to misunderstandings of immigration enforcement, or more likely for political reasons.” “They should be held accountable for putting public safety at risk.”

Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office stated that it could not verify “ambiguous data”, reported by Center for Immigration Studies.

The department stated that “without seeing the records referenced and without knowing the meaning implied by the terms’releases’ or ‘declined’ detainers’, the Sheriff’s Office could not evaluate this claim.”

The non-cooperation policies of the government were also defended.

As a law-enforcement agency, our job is not to enforce federal immigration laws. California law prioritizes the protection of rights and public safety. “We remain committed to complying with the law and ensuring the safety of our community,” said the Office.

The Washington Times contacted the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office to write this story.

Fairfax County officials said that they would require a judicial order before transferring anyone to ICE.

Experts disagree. While crossing the border without permission is a criminal offence that can result in jail time, the illegal presence is itself a civil matter and the consequences are deportation.

In most cases, ICE uses administrative warrants and not judicial warrants.

Both sides complain about each other’s behaviour.

ICE claims that some jurisdictions say they are cooperating but only give a brief heads-up prior to releasing someone. This makes it difficult for officers arrive on time.

Fairfax County reported that ICE would not always pick up detainers when they were complied with.

Sanctuaries claim that cooperating ICE damages their relationship with the immigrant community, and makes people less likely to report crimes.

Critics of sanctuary say that the result is criminals who have no legal right to be in America are released into the community.

That includes Yohandri Roger Mosquera-Rosas. ICE reported that he was released last year by Fairfax County despite multiple detainer requests, a criminal record including hit-and run and multiple firearms crimes and DUI.

In September, ICE officers arrested him in his community.

ICE has, over the past few years, highlighted a number of Fairfax County cases where illegal immigrants from Central America were released despite being charged with sex crime against teenage girls.

A Honduran was arrested in 2023 on a charge of child sex crimes. The county released him, and he was arrested again last year for four additional child sex crimes.

ICE issued 149.764 detainer request in fiscal 2024. This is up from 65.940 requests in 2021 (the first year of President Biden’s presidency), but down from the 165.487 requests issued in 2019 (the last year before the pandemic in President Trump’s first term).

Detainers were used to target more than 4,500 homicides, 4,500 kidnappings and robberies as well as 19,400 weapon offenses and almost 21,400 sexual offenses.

Email the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors:
Jeffrey C. McKay, chairman@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Kathy L. Smith, sully@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Rachna Sizemore Heizer, braddock@fairfaxcounty.gov,
James N. Bierman Jr., dranesville@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Rodney L. Lusk, franconia@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Walter L. Alcorn, huntermill@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Andres F. Jimenez, mason@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Daniel G. Storck, mtvernon@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Dalia A. Palchik, providence@fairfaxcounty.gov,
Pat Herrity, springfield@fairfaxcounty.gov,

Email the Fairfax County School Board:
Tom Dannan, tfdannan@fcps.edu,
Robyn Lady, ralady1@fcps.edu,
Marcia St. John-Cunning, mstjohncunni@fcps.edu,
Melanie Meren,
Ricardy Anderson, randerson@fcps.edu,
Mateo Dunne, mdunne@fcps.edu,
Karl Frisch, kvfrisch@fcps.edu,
Sandy Anderson, sanderson@fcps.edu,
Seema Dixit, sdixit@fcps.edu,
Kyle McDaniel, kmcdaniel@fcps.edu,
Ryan McElveen, rlmcelveen@fcps.edu,
Ilryong Moon, imoon@fcps.edu,