Jim Jordan demands answers from Arlington cops over refusal to aid ICE, detain criminal illegal aliens

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock demanded officials in Arlington, Virginia give answers for why they are not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.

Letters were sent to Arlington County and the City of Falls Church prosecutor Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, Arlington County Police Chief Charles Penn, and Arlington County Sheriff Jose Quiroz on Monday.

The letter to Dehghani-Tafti stated, "During your tenure, the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church has routinely undermined the rule of law under the guise of safeguarding the public. You have boasted, for example, about how your office has 'protected people’s DACA status’ and 'fashioned resolutions that avoid deportation.’"

The letter accused Dehghani-Tafti of weaponizing her office "to give preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status," and that as a result of these efforts, illegal immigrant Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran, who has a lengthy criminal history, was allowed to remain on the streets to later allegedly assault a woman.

In the letter to Penn, the lawmakers wrote that he "bolstered APD’s sanctuary policies to 'restrict sharing of personally identifiable information that could be used to further immigration enforcement efforts,’ forbid employees from 'request[ing] or disclos[ing] to any person or entity the citizenship or immigration status of an individual’ except in narrow circumstances, and prohibit compliance with 'federal administrative or civil immigration warrants or detainers' in July of 2025.

"Despite your claim that your office is committed “to protecting the rights of all residents and visitors,” Arlington County’s sanctuary policies endanger the communities you serve. 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 lawmakers wrote.

In the letter to Sheriff Quiroz, the lawmakers said that "Arlington County’s sanctuary policies endanger the communities you serve." They noted the July 2025 arrest of David Cabrera, who had been deported twice and was convicted in 2014 of attempting to rape an Arlington teen, and wrote that instead of honoring the ICE detainer placed on Cabrera, the sheriff’s office released him.

"Given the dangerous nature of sanctuary jurisdictions and their active role in thwarting federal immigration enforcement, the Committee is concerned about ACSO’s role in shielding criminal aliens and undermining public safety."

Among the demands for the Arlington officials are communications with ICE, documents relating to policies on non-citizens, the number of ICE detainers received and not honored, and communications between the departments related to immigration enforcement.