The Arlington County prosecutor’s office has defended its policy allowing DACA recipients accused of driving under the influence to avoid deportation, despite accusations from a House Judiciary Committee report that it constitutes a “political sham.”
The county attorney, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, stated the policy ensures individuals face appropriate sanctions and conditions without being deported due to a DUI conviction. The official policy reads: “Because of this, we must take an individual’s DACA status into account when developing offers to ensure that, while appropriate sanctions and conditions are put in place to protect the public and prevent future similar behavior, an individual is not deported because of their decision to drive while intoxicated.”
The House Judiciary Committee released a report accusing Dehghani-Tafti of threatening public safety by allowing criminal aliens—including murderers, terrorists, and sex traffickers—to remain in the county after DUI offenses. The committee claimed that DACA recipients convicted of drunk driving could be deported by federal authorities under this policy.
Dehghani-Tafti responded that the report was “wrong about Virginia law, wrong about county policy, wrong about our office’s policies and their impact, and wrong about the cases they cite.” She also accused the committee of refusing to hold a public hearing and stonewalling requests for the full deposition transcript.
Arlington County’s Democratic-led government denied the allegations, stating that “the facts and the law have not changed; immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government, and the county’s policies and actions have been compliant with the law.”
