DOJ opens civil-rights investigation into Fairfax County prosecutor Steve Descano

On May 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division notified Fairfax County, Virginia, Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano that it had opened a federal investigation into his office's plea-bargaining, charging, and sentencing policies. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who heads the division, said her office had sent Descano a letter informing him of the inquiry, which will examine whether the office discriminated against U.S. citizens by extending preferential treatment to defendants based on their immigration status.

The investigation centers on a December 2020 office directive instructing line prosecutors to weigh the immigration consequences of the charges they bring — a policy that had been public for more than five years before the inquiry was announced. The department framed the probe under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and related federal statutes. The announcement came roughly a week before Descano, an elected Democrat, was scheduled to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration enforcement.

Descano's office characterized the investigation as politically motivated. A spokesperson, Laura Birnbaum, noted that the targeted policy had been public for years and said the office's policies are "fair, legal," pointing to the timing relative to his congressional testimony. The Civil Rights Division said it had not reached any conclusions about the allegations. The entry records the opening of a federal investigation into an independently elected local prosecutor's discretionary charging policies under the abuses of weaponizing the Justice Department and politicized investigations.