LIVE: HOUSE SUBCMTE HOLDS HEARING ON SANCTUARY CITY POLICY CONSEQUENCES

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]and they release him on December 16th, 2025.

[00:00:04]And what happens on December 17th, 2025?

[00:00:08]He kills someone. That's the consequences of this dumb, stupid, crazy policy.

[00:00:17]And again, Miss Men is going to talk about Stephanie Mener, the chairman, talked about Abdul Jala, who had this 40 past charges, had all kinds of things.

[00:00:25]This this guy had been arrested and charged with multiple crimes, malicious wounding, stealing property, lararseny, trespass, disorderly conduct, malicious wounding, 100 involvements with the local police, and as the chairman pointed out, the local law enforcement told Mr. Dano's office, if you let this guy out, he's going to do something bad.

[00:00:45]It's going to be bad. And sure enough, they were right.

[00:00:50]And he stabbed and killed someone.

[00:00:52]That's the consequences. Now, here's the craziest part of all. Here's the craziest part of all and the chairman mentioned this. Mr. Disano told us he was going to do it. He told us he was going to do this. The statement I think the chairman read, "Mr. Dano's office will take immigration consequences into account when making charging and plea decisions." Excuse me.

[00:01:14]This is unbelievable. So, I want to thank the chairman. The Democrats can say all they want. Well, why are we having another hearing? We're having a hearing on this because this is the dumbest thing we've ever heard. So, I want to thank the chairman for this hearing and I want to thank him for the legislation that he sponsored. This committee has already passed, sanctuary jurisdiction shutdown act of 2026 and hopefully that's going to be passed in the full house soon. Love to get that into law so we can stop what's going on in Fairfax County. With that, I yield back.

[00:01:41]>> Thank you. I now recognize the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Raskin, for his opening statement.

[00:01:46]>> Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Uh, welcome to all of our witnesses. is I would especially like to thank Miss Mter for coming today. There's no greater pain than the pain of losing your child.

[00:01:58]And so I thank you for having the strength um and the courage to speak publicly and to appear before us about um all of these matters today. I also want to thank the uh busy public officials from Virginia uh Sheriff Concincaid and Commonwealth Attorney Disano. We know uh how busy your schedules are and we thank you for coming to be part of this uh process. Uh I have family in Virginia. Not everybody in my family is in Maryland. I once spent a summer in Richmond, Virginia. Uh and I feel somehow like I'm back in Virginia with all these great Virginiaians here. Uh and we're on a mission of analyzing Virginia law and public policy today. This hearing would probably be better taking place in Richmond before the general assembly because we're doing a deep dive into the prosecutorial and jail policy decisions of one county, Fairfax County, which was recently ranked, I noted, by the major cities chief's association as the safest county of its size in the entire United States of America. So its people, its elected officials certainly do not deserve the contempt and the derision of this committee. Uh if we were going to super intend and scrutinize the actions taking place within the government of Virginia, perhaps we should be looking at the recent decision by the Virginia State Supreme Court to overturn the express will of the people of Virginia in redistricting their congressional districts. But that investigation into an episode of extreme judicial activism might not suit the ideological purposes of the majority quite so much. The ranking member has done an excellent job of providing an overview of the problems and limitations with the particular conception of this hearing. What we have on one side is a massively funded federal bureaucracy which just got $175 billion last year accomplished by slashing funds for Medicaid, children's health insurance, rural hospitals, and so on. Uh DHS now has a quarter of a million employees in a budget larger than that of 150 countries on Earth. It has over 80,000 sworn officers, more than the number of police officers, check this out, in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington DC, Las Vegas, and Dallas combined.

[00:04:39]And yet, despite this massive bureaucracy and this awesome budget, the administration is trying to blame the problems in immigration law and policy over which the people of Fairfax County have no control other than as citizens voting for representatives in Congress. um trying to blame these local jurisdictions like the sheriff's office whose annual budget is not $175 billion but if the internet is correct I just looked it up is $85 million which is much less than $1,000th of the homeland security budget and yet the federal government or congress rather than actually engaging in the process of studying and passing comprehensive immigration reform prefers to bully and scapegoat local jurisdictions which are trying to deal with the failures of federal policy.

[00:05:49]Look, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have a job to do and they should do it and they should do it without violating the law. They should do it without violating the Constitution. They should do it without killing US citizens like Renee Good and Alex Prey. But they have a job to do and the government of Fairfax County has a job to do. And these public officials have a job of enforcing the criminal laws of Virginia as chosen by the people of Virginia within all of the constraints of state and federal law. Now, as I understand it, and this is what I'm interested in because I'm not familiar with what is taking place in Fairfax County or in Virginia, but as I understand it, ICE can come and pick up undocumented prisoners um for a period of days or weeks before they are discharged. And this has happened before. and the the local and state government, contrary to what we just heard, cooperates fully with the federal government in these cases. The idea that they don't cooperate is just wrong. Um, ICE can come and pick them up before their point of discharge, and as I understand it, and I want to hear more about this, they can pick them up at the point of discharge.

[00:07:11]Um, but Fairfax County, as I understand it, takes the position it cannot hold prisoners beyond the length and duration of their lawful sentence. And I want to hear about that. But I'm curious, why can I not pick up with its massive resources? Why can they not pick up the prisoners while they are still being held or right before they're about to be released or at the point of discharge?

[00:07:41]Um, I don't really understand that. And then, uh, again, I understand everybody is eager to beat up on Fairfax County for some reason, but in terms of the specific terrible case we're going to talk about today, we're going to hear about this uh, Abdul Jalo, the Sierra Leone National, who's accused of brutally murdering Miss Mter's daughter, Stephanie. Um, he was actually in ICE custody from 2018 through 2019 during the first Trump administration before they released him back into the public. As I understand it, I want to get to the bottom of that report. Why was he not removed back to Sierra Leone when the Trump administration held him in 2018, in 2019? That is a critical question uh that I have um in terms of trying to define responsibility. If all of this is just uh a blame game that we're engaged in, it would be far more meaningful for us to be talking about comprehensive immigration reform. I think that's what Americans and Virginiaians are looking to Congress for, not to be scrutinizing and uh demonizing particular cities or counties around the country, which does not strike me as a very productive exercise. Nonetheless, I'm delighted to hear from all of our witnesses here, and I yield back to you, Mr. Chairman.

[00:09:23]>> Thank you. Without objection, all other opening statements will be included in the record. And we'll now hear from today's witnesses. We have with us today Miss Cheryl Mentor. She's a lifelong Virginia resident. She's the mother of Stephanie Mentor, the young woman who is victimized by these sanctuary policies.

[00:09:39]We have with us uh the Honorable Stacy Concincaid who serves as sheriff for Fairfax County, Virginia. She has 35 years of experience working for the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office. A graduate of Langley High School in Mlan, Virginia. Sheriff Concincaid received her bachelor's degree in political science and criminal justice from the Frostber State University in 1987.

[00:10:01]We have the Honorable Steven Disano who serves as a Commonwealth attorney for Fairfax County, Virginia. He served in this role since January of 2020. Mr. Dano earned his undergraduate degree from West Point and his JD from Temple University. Mr. Shan Kennedy is president of Virginiaians for Safe Communities, a public safety and victim's rights advocacy nonprofit and sits on the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Advisory Board as an appointee of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. He's a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and earned a master's degree in history from the University of Cambridge. Uh, Professor Jane Stove is a professor at the University of California Irvine School of Law, where she directs the domestic violence clinic and the UCI Initiative to End Family Violence.

[00:10:48]Professor Stove earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Kansas in 2000. She completed her JD at Harvard in 2003 and earned an LLM from Georgetown University in 2008.

[00:11:02]Mr. David Beer is the director of immigration studies at the Ko Institute.

[00:11:07]He has a BA in political science from Grove City College in Pennsylvania. We have with us the Honorable Jason Mayores who served as Virginia attorney general from 2021 till 2025 and previously served in the House of Delegates. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from James Madison University in 1998 and earned his JD from the College of William and Mary in 2005. I want to welcome all of today's witnesses, thank them for appearing, and we'll begin by swearing you in. Would you please uh rise and raise your right hand?

[00:11:43]You swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you're about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge and information and belief. So, help you God.

[00:11:53]Let the record reflect the witnesses have answered in the affirmative. Thank you, and you may be seated. Uh we know that your written testimony will be entered um in the uh record in its entirety. Accordingly, we'll ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes. Uh and we'll begin with Sheriff Kintade.

[00:12:14]Good morning, Chairman Mcccleintoch, Ranking Member Japal, and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. My name is Stacy Anne Conincaid and I am the sheriff of Fairfax County, Virginia. I was sworn in as a deputy sheriff in 1987 and I work my way through the ranks of my agency serving in every division with distinction.

[00:12:37]After achieving the rank of captain, I ran for sheriff in 2013 and have since been reelected three times with overwhelming majorities. As sheriff, it's been an honor to serve Fairfax County. The safety and security of Fairfax County has been my absolute priority for the past 38 years. I entered law enforcement to save to serve my community and to help protect the vulnerable. I believe all those that commit crimes should be held accountable and I sympathize with all victims of crimes. I am proud of the role my agency plays in the Fairfax County criminal justice system by ensuring the safe and orderly administration of justice.

[00:13:15]Simply put, the justice system comes to a halt without Fairfax County Sheriff's Office.

[00:13:22]We are tasked with serving every document issued by our court system, including protective orders and subpoenas. We are responsible for providing security to a courthouse and ensuring the safety of hundreds of thousands of courthouse visitors every year, including judges, victims, and witnesses. We operate a secure and humane adult detention center and we hold certifications from the American Correctional Association, the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission, the Virginia Department of Corrections, and the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare. In addition to our accreditation, I am proud of the groundbreaking nationally recognized programs that run daily in my jail.

[00:14:00]These efforts are critical to reducing recidivism and making our community safer. The functions of my agency are carried out daily to ensure the safe and orderly administration of justice in Fairfax County. My agency is not staffed for, budgeted for, or mandated to perform the duties of the federal government. My operating budget is approved by state and local government and is allotted specifically to carry out state and local mandated functions, maintaining a safe and secure detention center, serving civil process, and ensuring the safety of the courthouse.

[00:14:32]It is simply not the job of the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office to engage in federal immigration enforcement. Despite this, we work with ICE in significant ways. We treat them like every other law enforcement agency we interact with.

[00:14:47]They are allowed into our facility at any time. They are notified of every undocumented immigrant booked into our jail and they know their location. If there is an individual they want to take custody of, they can do so by obtaining a judicial warrant, calling to ask when the individual will be released, tracking the individ individual's court date, or taking custody of the individual up to 5 days prior to their release. When ICE does call, we even coordinate high-risisk transfers with ICE to ensure their safety. We have no problem with ICE conducting its lawful business, but it is their business to conduct, not ours. Fairfax County is one of the top 50 most diverse counties in the entire nation. Over 30% of Fairfax County's population is foreign born and over 40% speaks a language other than English at home. I am the sheriff for each one of these residents of Fairfax County, no matter their national origin, native language, and citizenship status.

[00:15:42]Ensuring trust between the community and my agency, is a key component of effective law enforcement. To encourage all victims to put their faith in law enforcement and report crimes, a clear separation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities is of vital importance. Local law enforcement must offer a safe place for victims and witnesses to cooperate without fear of consequences. This is the only way to hold violators accountable of the law. Any violent crime or a crime against children is a tragedy. Unfortunately, we live in a time when such tragedies are used for political gain. It is easy to point fingers at a time of sadness and crisis and to look for blame for a terrible outcome. Even when everyone in the criminal justice system does their job, terrible people will do terrible things.

[00:16:29]We are doing our job by following the law and will continue to do so.

[00:16:32]Hopefully, the other agencies involved will do their jobs as well. I look forward to continuing this conversation with anyone who wishes to find real solutions devoid of politics. Thank you.

[00:16:45]>> Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Discono, Chairman Mcccleintoch, Ranking Member Gyipal, Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Raskin, and distinguished members of this subcommittee. As a West Point graduate, federal prosecutor, and now the Commonwealth Attorney for Fairfax County, Virginia, I have devoted my life to public service and public safety. I was the first in my family to graduate from college, and I was inspired by West Point's credo of providing a lifetime of selfless service to the nation. I was first elected as Commonwealth attorney in 2019 on a promise to adopt smart on crime policies that prioritize the prosecution of violent crime. I'm proud of what we have accomplished. Fairfax County is one of the safest large communities anywhere in the country.

[00:17:29]The public safety of Fairfax County motivates all my work. Our office has successfully prosecuted thousands of cases, including high-profile murders, sexual assaults, and other serious offenses. We've worked with our law enforcement partners to more effectively prosecute gun crimes. We expanded a diversion program for struggling veterans. And we spearheaded bipartisan statewide reforms to better protect child victims and witnesses in partnership with the Republican governor. Even in safe communities though, crime does happen. Like the tragic murder of Stephanie Mter, whose mother, Cheryl, is here today. Miss Mter, I am deeply sorry for your loss.

[00:18:08]And I say that not only as a prosecutor, but as a parent of a daughter. I am sorry for what you are having to endure.

[00:18:15]I promise that my office is doing everything we can to prosecute the man responsible.

[00:18:26]I've been asked to testify today about my office's policies.

[00:18:30]I welcome any conversation about how to reduce and prevent violence.

[00:18:34]Unfortunately, I expect some will instead promote a false narrative that gets us no closer to real solutions that Americans deserve. Let me be absolutely clear. My office does not provide sanctuary or safe harbor to undocumented immigrants. In fact, we routinely prosecute immigrants who commit crimes and we will continue to do so.

[00:18:55]Our approach to prosecution of crime has helped make Fairfax County one of the safest jurisdictions of its size in the country. Last year, we had far fewer homicides than in almost any other major jurisdiction in the United States, including in states that many members of this subcommittee represent.

[00:19:11]Serious violent crime in Fairfax County is also lower than that of most other large jurisdictions. And Fairfax residents know it's safe. A Washington Post poll found that 94% of Northern Virginia residents reported feeling safe from crime in their neighborhood. And the citizens of Fairfax County have weighed in by reelecting me with 77% of the vote. My office also works with our fed federal partners to prosecute crimes.

[00:19:35]And like many state and local prosecutors, my office has a policy of not assisting ICE with federal civil immigration enforcement. We do not have the budget or personnel to enforce federal civil immigration law. And it is simply not our job. We handle 15,000 criminal cases each year with just 52 full-time attorneys and a limited budget.

[00:19:56]Our policy of not diverting our resources to federal immigration enforcement also makes our community safer. Three and 10 residents in Fairfax County are immigrants. When crimes occur, we need victims and witnesses, including members of our immigrant communities, to report those crimes and come to court to testify. If victims and witnesses believe my office will report them or their neighbors to ICE, they will not trust us. And they will not provide the testimony we need to obtain convictions and get justice.

[00:20:28]It is justice that my office is now seeking by prosecuting the defendant Abdul Jalo in the tragic murder of Stephanie Mter. The system failed, Miss Mter, and we should all look for ways we can prevent tragedies like this in the future. That starts with understanding the facts.

[00:20:43]The defendant was well known by ICE as early as 2018 when ICE held him in custody for nearly two years during the first Trump administration only to release him into the community. After that, my office worked closely with law enforcement to prosecute him and obtain convictions for his crime wherever possible and despite challenges in those cases. We are fully committed to holding the defendant accountable in this case.

[00:21:07]As a local prosecutor, I will continue to focus on my job, prosecuting defendants who commit crimes in Fairfax County. In carrying out that role, my office makes case decisions based on the law, the evidence in the case, the interests of the victim, and its service of seeking justice and keeping our community safe. Thank you for having me and I welcome your questions.

[00:21:29]>> Thank you for your testimony. We'll next hear from the former attorney general of the state of Virginia, uh, the Honorable Jason Mayares.

[00:21:38]Mr. Chairman, ranking member, members of the subcommittee, before I say anything else, I want to acknowledge the woman seated with us today, Miss Cheryl Mentor, the mother of Stephanie. She has agreed to share her story with this committee, and there is no one braver in this room. I will let her speak to what she has lost. But what I want to give you is the context because what happened to Stephanie did not have to happen in this vacuum. Now, I come to the immigration issue personally. My mother fled communist Cuba, literally penniless and homeless and not knowing where her next meal was going to come from. She came to this country legally, stood in line, filled out the forms, and did everything the right way because she believed in the rule of law and the promise of America. She left behind everything because she knew she wanted to come here the right way. That's what legal immigration looks like. I'm the son of a legal immigrant. I believe in immigration deeply, but what I do not believe in, what I cannot accept is a system that extends preferential treatment to those who break our laws at the direct expense of the American citizens whose laws are supposed to protect. And in Fairfax County, Virginia, that is precisely what happened. Not once, not twice, repeatedly. Cheryl will tell you about Stephanie. But members of this committee, I want you to understand that Stephanie Mentor is not an isolated tragedy. She is the most recent and visible name in a documented and ongoing pattern of preventable crimes. A pattern with a single common cause, the sanctuary policies of Fairfax County. In December 2025, a man was shot and killed inside his own home in Reston. One day after Marvin Fernando Morales Ortiz, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, was released from jail despite an active ICE detainer, he had prior arrest for aggravated assault of a police officer.

[00:23:36]Fairfax refused to hold him. He killed a man the very next day. A single phone call from Fairfax to ICE would have saved this man's life. In November 2024, a woman was raped on a hiking trail in Herden, Virginia. Just days after her attacker was released from jail following a felony assault charge reduction made without ever consulting the police. The ICE detainer was ignored. She became the next victim. A 4-year-old girl was nearly abducted in the middle of the night by an illegal alien who broke into her bedroom.

[00:24:07]Charges were reduced progressively over 18 months down to a misdemeanor, then dropped entirely. In July 2024, two illegal aliens stab stabbed a man to death at a park in Oakton. ICE had lodged multiple detainers on one of the suspects that Fairfax County had refused to honor. He was released back into the community. Then he killed. In the last several weeks, girls as young as 13 were groped repeatedly in the hallways of a Fairfax County high school by an illegal alien enrolled as a student at age 19.

[00:24:40]ICE asked that he beheld. Fairfax refused. Same county, same prosecutor, same policy. Over and over again.

[00:24:49]Members, this is not incompetence. This is not coincidence. This is policy.

[00:24:54]Commonwealth attorney Disconano publishes it on his own website. His office's formal written policy states that prosecutor prosecutors shall whenever possible make charging and plea decisions that quote limit or avoid immigration consequences. That's not prosecutorial discretion. that is discrimination against American citizens in favor of those here illegally who commit additional crime. That is why the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund petitioned the Department of Justice, which early this month has opened a civil rights investigation into Mr. Dano's office, arguing that his policies violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Let me be clear about the law. Immigration is not a shared power with states. It belonged exclusively to the federal government and federal law expressly prohibits state and local governments from restricting communication with federal immigration authorities. Fairfax County's policies do exactly that. This is not non-ooperation. This is a deliberate choice to put a violent criminal back on the street. We know what works because Virginia approved it under Governor Glenn Yncan. His executive order 47 established a state immigration task force. Within 8 weeks, over 130 gang members were picked up, including the East Coast leader of MS-13, living freely in Prince William County. He was captured. Virginia was called the national model. Our new governor, Spanberger, dismantled it. Her first day in office, she signed Executive Order One, ending state cooperation with ICE just 19 days before Stephanie Mentor was killed. She now has a bill on her desk that would prohibit every jurisdiction in Virginia from cooperating with ICE. I think we all know what she will do. Government's first and most fundamental duty is to protect the people it governs. Sanctuary policies represent a catastrophic and willful failure of that duty. My mother came to this country because she believed the law would protect her.

[00:26:44]Cheryl Mentor believed the same thing.

[00:26:47]Stephanie Mentor deserved the same thing. And Virginiaians are paying the price. I'm asking this committee to make this stop. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I welcome the committee's questions.

[00:26:57]>> Thank you for your testimony. Okay, we'll next hear from Professor Stove.

[00:27:07]>> Chairman, ranking member, and distinguished members, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Jane Stove, and I'm a law professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, having first taught at Georgetown and American, directing domestic violence clinics for over 20 years now. Today's hearing was prompted by an unthinkable tragedy and I extend my deepest condolences to Miss Cheryl Mentor for the loss of her daughter, Stephanie Mentor. All victims deserve safety and justice and many have been failed by the systems that purport to help them. I'll be direct though focusing on immigration enforcement as the solution to violence against women is rooted in false narratives, not facts. Contrary to the premise of this hearing, sanctuary policies aren't obstacles to public safety. They're essential to it. Study after study, including by criminologist Charis Kubran, shows that immigrants commit fewer crimes. And law enforcement leaders have warned that when survivors fear the police, crimes go unreported and communities become less safe. As co-chair of my county's domestic violence death review team, I can assure you preventing abuse prevents fatalities.

[00:28:22]Policies that allow survivors to seek help without fear, to call the police without fear, save lives, and improve community safety.

[00:28:31]I urge this committee to focus on the real solutions to preventing and responding to violence against women because I see my clients safety further jeopardized. down. Immigrant women in the United States face a lifetime risk of domestic violence as high as 49.8%.

[00:28:47]That's three times the national average.

[00:28:50]And 60% of immigrant women married to US citizens experience immigration related abuse. Survivors need protection but face a catch 22. Remain in danger or risk deportation.

[00:29:03]Immigration enforcement has exponentially increased as Congress has allocated $170 billion and plans to add 70 billion more. ICE agents have daily arrest targets and are now empowered to stop, arrest, and detain people on the basis of race, language, location, and employment. And immigrant survivors are being swept up. In this context, the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors surveyed over 170 advocates and attorneys nationwide. Their findings are alarming. Over 3/4ers of immigrant survivors have concerns about contacting the police. 70% fear attending any court hearings and half ultimately chose not to contact the police or to go to court for abuse. In Virginia, Fairfax County law enforcement report rising numbers of victims withdrawing complaints.

[00:29:53]Survivors are avoiding courouses, food banks, prenatal care, and shelters due to ICE raids and are arranging for third parties to take custody of their children should they be deported. At the same time, legal protections are being dismantled.

[00:30:08]Over 30 years ago, Congress enshrined protections for immigrants in the Violence Against Women Act with bipartisan support and then passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act protection act. But today, survivors with pending and even approved petitions are being detained and removed. USCIS backlogs of vow self petitions and life-saving TNU visas compound the crisis with U visas taking over a decade to grant. Now, one of my clients married a US citizen but fled life-threatening abuse during pregnancy only to be ordered removed unless she could prove successful adjudication of her vow of self petition in one month's time, but USCIS processing times are over four years currently. We expedited her case and await the decision on appeal. She is not the danger this administration or this hearing purport to address. Yet, she's been made a target, and I shudder to think what would happen if she didn't have an attorney. To seriously address crime victim safety, I respectfully urge Congress to one, reject section 287g agreements, which harmfully entangle local police with federal immigration enforcement. to prohibit enforcement actions at courouses, abuse shelters, and medical facilities, the places we want people to seek help. Three, to bar ICE from detaining or removing individuals with pending survivor-based claims, as was Congress's original intent. Four, to restore VAWA, U and TBS of protections and public benefits to fund USCIS staffing and increase the annual caps. Finally, in contrast to the hundreds of billions of dollars for immigration enforcement, 200 million in federal victim services grants is sitting unspent, which should be immediately distributed to provide life-saving services to survivors in those organizations, including in Virginia. Please stay focused on survivor safety and act with urgency to restore and strengthen vital safeguards.

[00:32:09]Thank you.

[00:32:12]>> Thank you. Next chair for Mr. Beer.

[00:32:14]Chairman Clint, Ranking Member Gyipal, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. For half a century, the Kato Institute's research has shown that people, whatever their ancestry, background, or birthplace, can thrive in a free society. Our research finds that immigrants, legal and illegal, work at higher rates, generate more income and taxes, and have reduced the national debt by 14.5 trillion dollars over the last 30 years.

[00:32:45]Immigrants improve public safety by reducing violent crime rates, meaning that you are less likely to become a victim. Fairfax highlights this reality.

[00:32:55]About half the county's residents are immigrants or children of immigrants.

[00:32:59]Its household im income is double the national average. Its murder rate is less than half the average. If illegal immigrants in Fairfax were their own city, they'd have a lower homicide rate than 90% of America's largest cities and lower than the country's homicide rate overall. Nationwide, illegal immigrants are half as likely to commit serious crimes for which they're serving time as US-born Americans. Despite all this, Congress refuses to allow most wouldbe immigrants to come legally, which leads to illegal immigration. Just 3% of all the people seeking permanent legal status in the United States were approved in 2024.

[00:33:47]That was before the current administration banned a majority of the legal immigrants previously allowed to come, including half of all the spouses of US citizens. It has cut legal immigration twice as much as it has cut illegal immigration.

[00:34:06]At the same time, it terminated legal status for over 2 million immigrants who were already here, creating four times as many illegal immigrants as it has deported.

[00:34:19]America's cities must manage the fallout from this sabotaged system. Many have decided not to volunteer their cops, jails, and resources to DHS. DHS doesn't like that. But under our constitution, cities and states don't take orders from the feds. And thank James Madison for that because we all know we wouldn't want the feds to dictate environmental policy, gun policy, or COVID policy to the states. If you want Fairfax to change its policies, you got to convince them. The first step would be to give up on the mass deportation fantasy. About one in five 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. Let me be clear.

[00:35:20]Non-citizens who harm Americans should be arrested, convicted, and deported. I think cities can help with that. But deportation is DHS's job. Indeed, you all p passed the Lake Riley Act in 2025 to require DHS to immediately take custody of people charged with violence or a theft.

[00:35:44]DHS is ignoring that law. It has deprioritized threats to focus on easy targets. They aren't tracking down the serious c criminal fugitives like the monster who killed Stephanie Mter.

[00:36:00]Instead, DHS agents are racially profiling Americans at Home Depot, arresting spouses of US citizens at green card interviews, beating parents of US Marines, and dragging legal immigrants and US citizens from their homes without warrants. Only 6% of ICE arrests have a violent criminal conviction. ICE has arrested 150,000 people who have no criminal convictions or even charges. And we know it's not because they got everyone with a serious record. Stephanie's case and many others prove that. It's because they care about, as one ICE agent put it, quantity over quality.

[00:36:45]How many Stephanies will get murdered before DHS follows the law and prioritizes serious criminals?

[00:36:53]How many? Most Americans don't want to wait for the answer. They want to pause the mass deportation fantasy and focus on public safety.

[00:37:05]That's the only policy that will defend our safety, our prosperity, and our freedom. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy.

[00:37:20]>> Thank you, chairman, ranking member, and members of this committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify. My name is Sean Kennedy, president of Virginiaians for Safe Communities, a Fairfax-based public safety and victim's rights advocacy group, and I'm an appointed member of the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Advisory Board. I'm going to get straight to the point. Anyone who is in the United States without legal status, any violent criminal, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And if they don't have legal status, they should be deported. Full stop.

[00:37:54]Those aren't my words. That was Governor Abigail Spamberger yesterday. But in Fairfax County, neither of those things are happening. First, Fairfax chief prosecutor, Steve Dano, does not prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. In fact, one of his former prosecutors told me, "Every time I hear Dano say community values, I cringe because we should be following the law, not his values."

[00:38:19]In fact, he openly flouts the law, ordering his prosecutors to seek lighter sentences for violent criminals and sex offenders, including murderers and child rapists. Second, Mr. Dano boasts that he chooses which charges to bring and what sentences to seek based on who the offender is. Being illegally present earns an offender preferential treatment. But that grace is not afforded to those who need it the most.

[00:38:45]Something that uh the professor just spoke about, victims. And make no mistake, the vast majority of criminal aliens victims are themselves immigrants. They too deserve justice.

[00:38:58]They too deserve safety. They too deserve dignity. But Mr. Dano has shown a callous disregard for them and their rights, our laws, and our public safety.

[00:39:09]That is wrong and that is illegal and it has appalling consequences. At 4:00 in the morning on June 15th, 2023, a mother woke to the screams of her four-year-old girl from the next room. A man had broken in through the bedroom window and carried off the toddler, committing with burglary with the intent to rape.

[00:39:28]According to the police, he was well known to the police and Mr. Dano. He was Hyram Bakadeno Rodriguez, a Honduran national. In 2021, two years before Bakadeno Rodriguez was arrested for multiple incidents of indecent liberties with a child. Each of the three counts carried up to 10 years in prison under Virginia law. But Mr. Discono, who directs his prosecutors to avoid immigration consequences, reduced the charges. Despite committing a break-in while awaiting sentencing, Dano agreed to a six-month sentence for prior crimes. He was quickly arrested again for burglary to commit a felony, punishable by 20 years, but that was reduced to property damage. More arrests, probation violations, and drop charges followed. He walked free and went fugitive. In 18 months, Bakadeno Rodriguez racked up five arrests and 23 charges, requiring him to spend the rest of his life in the Virginia Department of Corrections. But Mr. Dano's policies prohibited that. It stated that his deputies must make plea officers that avoid the legislatively mandated minimum jail sentence.

[00:40:36]So, a criminal alien was free to abduct a sleeping little girl. Somehow this parents worst nightmare, in the words of Judge Randy Bellows, got worse when Mr. Dano gave the kidnapper a plea deal for less than two years in prison. An outraged Judge Bellows rejected the plea agreement, saying the only way to protect the community is a lengthy period of incarceration. When the same deal came before Judge Susan J. Stony the next year, she too was incredulous.

[00:41:04]The court is concerned about the severity of the crime. The fact the defendant's criminal history indicates a record of other involvement with minors and that the potential sentence here in this case is too lenient. The court has grave concern in the interest of public safety. In a vindictive and petty move, Mr. Dano then dropped all of the charges. The little girl's family was beside themselves. He was set to be released within hours. denied justice by the same man charged with protecting the innocent. Their little girl and the public, that family had to act. The little girl's grandmother, Natalie, called the ICE hotline and said, "I gave them all the information I had to the person on the other end. When ICE arrested him as he walked out, she said, "It was a sigh of relief. According to the girl's mother, Christy, God protected my little girl, but who is going to protect the next one?"

[00:41:59]Certainly not Mr. Dano. And sadly, since he has become Commonwealth attorney, this case is not the exception. It is the rule. Under Mr. Dano, it is policy.

[00:42:11]Fairfax's chief prosecutor has chosen to sacrifice victims on the altar of ideology. Hundreds, if not thousands of violent and sex crimes should never have happened if Mr. Dano followed the law, not his values. In shielding criminal aliens, Mr. Discono shows a depraved indifference to human suffering. That is not compassion. It is cruelty. That is not compassion. It is cruelty. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. We'll finally hear from uh Miss Cheryl Mentor.

[00:42:44]>> Morning to the members of the Oop. Thank you.

[00:42:48]Good morning to the members of the committee. I appreciate appreciate you granting me the time and space to speak.

[00:42:56]Thank you for your attendance. My name is Cheryl Mentor. I am the mother of Stephanie Nicole Mentor. I would like to open today's subject, Stephanie Nicole Mentor, with a poem.

[00:43:12]Every good painting will take a million strokes. To make a good song, you have to go mining to find the perfect notes.

[00:43:20]And a castle is created stone by stone with patience and care. Because great leaps come with small steps and time.

[00:43:29]This poem comes from my favorite coffee cup gifted to me by Stephanie. We would share a cup of coffee during the early mornings. We buted heads like every mother and daughter, but wanted to actively take steps together to make our relationship better. We would share stories, memories, laughter, thoughts of the future, and more. This is something I will never get to experience again because of the failures of our justice system. Stephanie was my daughter, my heart. She was a loving mother, a daughter, sister, an auntie, a friend, a mentor. She believed in God. She cared for people. She showed up for others even when she was tired. Stephanie was my memory since mine isn't that great anymore.

[00:44:20]She always knew the right Bible verse for any situation.

[00:44:24]Always smiling, always joyful, always loved life even through the bad times.

[00:44:30]Stephanie was a woman who faced many battles in life. She always came out the other side of tough times with that bright smile on her face. That same smile is something I will never be able to see again. A smile the world will never bear witness to again.

[00:44:49]On February 23rd 4th, 2026, I woke up to the worst call a parent can ever receive. My daughter was gone, taken in the most horrific way, was simply waiting for a bus in Fairfax County on the night of February 23rd, 2026. No mother should have to stand here and say these words. No family should have to bury their child like this. Stephanie's life mattered. Her voice mattered. her future mattered.

[00:45:21]And today I stand here because her life was taken in a way that should have never happened. The man who took my daughter's life should not have been free to walk the streets. He had been picked up many times. He was known.

[00:45:35]There were warnings. There were emails sent saying he was a danger. And still he was released. I am not here for politics. I am here for accountability.

[00:45:46]I am here because a system failed my daughter. If not for these failures, I could be sharing a cup of coffee with Stephanie this morning rather than speaking with you all today.

[00:45:58]When politics policies protect people who are known threat, innocent lives are put at risk.

[00:46:06]When warnings are ignored, families like mine pay the price. This is not just about Stephanie. This is about every mother.

[00:46:16]Every parent, every child, every person who waits at a bus stop, walks home, or goes to work trusting they they will be safe. We cannot ignore this. We cannot look away. Compassion should never come at the cost of public safety. Care for one group should not mean danger for another. We can be a community that is both caring and responsible. We can have policies that protect people and also keep our streets sta safe.

[00:46:47]But that means we must act. We must listen when there are warnings. We must take threats seriously. We must make sure that people who are dangerous are not released back into our neighborhoods. I will carry my daughter's name for the rest of my life.

[00:47:03]I will carry her memory. But I should not have to carry this pain because of because of a preventable failure.

[00:47:12]Stephanie deserved to come home that day. She deserved to watch her child grow. She deserved more time. I am asking you, please do not let her story be ignored. Do not let another family stand where I am standing. Make changes.

[00:47:28]Take responsibility.

[00:47:30]Protect your community. Because no mother should ever have to wake up to this nightmare.

[00:47:39]I'd like to read from Psalms 28.

[00:47:45]Give them the punishments they so richly deserve. Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness.

[00:47:52]Pay them back for all their evil deeds.

[00:47:55]Give them a taste of what they have done to others. They care nothing for what the Lord has done or for what his hands have made. So he will hear. So he will tear them down and they will never be rebuilt. Praise the Lord for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out of song out in songs of thanksgiving. The Lord gives his people strength for he is a safe fortress for his anointed king.

[00:48:36]Save your people. Bless is Israel your special possession. Lead them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms forever.

[00:48:46]Thank you.

[00:48:52]Thank you.

[00:48:54]We'll now move to five minute questions from committee members. We'll start with Sheriff Nails.

[00:49:01]>> Thank you, sir. Uh I'm sorry, uh Miss Mter to I mean, what a very story, Stephanie. The numerous pictures we saw.

[00:49:10]Beautiful. I apologize for the individuals that have held on to these irresponsible policies costing the lives of many, many innocent Americans. So, I apologize. Mr. Kennedy, I appreciate your passion. You're right on target, Mr. Dano. Well, Miss Sheriff Concincaid, thank you for your service. Mr. Dano, I consider you a disgrace. I yield the rest of my balance of my time to my colleague, Mr. Klene.

[00:49:40]>> I I thank the gentleman and I thank the chairman for allowing me to sit on this panel today. I represent the vast majority of Virginia citizens who stand with you, Miss Mentor, and who are so sorry for the tragedy that occurred. And our prayers are with you and with your daughter who is uh in heaven looking down on this right now.

[00:50:05]And you know, I heard your apology, Mr. Dano. I think the public would like to hear your resignation.

[00:50:17]Let me ask you, when Abdul Jala is released, will you honor an ICE detainer?

[00:50:25]>> Sir, my office is a prosecuting office.

[00:50:28]We don't receive ICE detainers. That's not our business.

[00:50:31]>> Will you, Sheriff Concincaid, will you honor the ICE detainer?

[00:50:37]Well, um, thank you for that question and, um, I would certainly hope that this case would be prosecuted and that justice would be served. Um, certainly when it comes to Mr. Jala, there hasn't been ICE detainers with the exception of one time in 2018, which we turned him over to ICE, and then the second time which we had to release him to a facility. Each other time he's been in my custody, there's been no detainers.

[00:51:06]>> If one comes, will you honor it?

[00:51:08]>> As long as I have the authority to do so and ICE knows what our policy is, >> then yes.

[00:51:17]>> If I'm given a judicial warrant, yes.

[00:51:20]>> That's different.

[00:51:21]>> Well, it's the what's what gives me the authority to detain somebody when I'm getting when I receive a court order from a judge mandating someone's release.

[00:51:30]I would also hope that that ICE would know when Mr. Jala is getting released so that they would be able to come and pick him up. And we do plan should he should he get convicted, we do plan on taking him, driving him down to the Department of Corrections.

[00:51:49]>> All right. Well, Mr. Dano, your policy tells prosecutors to give lighter treatment to defendants based on their immigration status. Isn't that just discrimination with a sympathetic face?

[00:51:58]And why are you protecting criminal illegal aliens more than the people of Fairfax County, the citizens?

[00:52:04]>> Well, first of all, sir, I think there's two things wrong with in the question that you asked me. We're not protecting uh uh undocumented individuals. As a matter of fact, we prosecute people who commit crimes in Fairfax County regardless of their status. And we and you know, so the idea that we don't do that is simply wrong. Our policies simply maintain that our role is to prosecute Virginia crime. That's what we do. ISIS's role is to do federal civil immigration enforcement. Mr. disagree with that.

[00:52:34]>> Fundamentally, he has a written policy to that effect. He is he is conflating two different issues. He is simply saying, why prosecute all crimes? At the same time, he has a written policy saying that illegal immigrants are going to be treated and given preferential treatment differently from American citizens. On one hand, he sits in front of this committee and says, "We don't follow sanctuary policies." At the same time, he openly admits he conducts himself in a manner in which he does not cooperate federal immigration authorities. That's the very definition of sanctuary policies. No, I fundamentally disagree with his assessment. There are 95 counties in Virginia, Congressman. Only one county with one prosecutor has a written policy saying we're going to treat illegal immigrants differently than American citizens. It is Mr. Tusano to my left.

[00:53:21]Period. Full stop. Well, I know that when ICE does work with localities, the system can work. I worked in the Harrisonburg Rockingham Commonwealth Attorney's Office. They had a 287g agreement uh with ICE. And when individuals who were prosecuted, who were here illegally, uh eventually served their sentences, they were met by ICE. They were retrieved by ICE and returned to their countries of origin.

[00:53:48]The people of Rockingham and Harrisonenberg uh benefited from that policy because the streets were safer and people who committed crimes were not returned to the communities that they threatened prior to their arrest. So, you know, the people who are here in Fairfax, from Fairfax, uh, stand and answer the ranking members question about Well, I've run out of time, so I hope I can get some more time because, um, people who are are working hard in Fairfax County deserve to not just feel safe, as the ranking member indicated, uh, but actually are safe.

[00:54:27]>> The gentleman's time has expired, Miss Gyipal.

[00:54:30]>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Mr. Dano, there's been a lot said, so I just want to ask you a few yes or no questions.

[00:54:36]Uh, your office works with DHS regularly on criminal issues, not just uh not civil immigration enforcement. Is that correct?

[00:54:44]>> That is correct. And if DHS came to you with a judicial warrant