The elected prosecutor for Arlington County, Virginia, has admitted under oath that her office maintains a special drunk-driving policy designed exclusively to shield DACA recipients from immigration consequences.
According to The Post Millennial, Commonwealths Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti disclosed the existence of this policy during a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee in July, the transcript of which was released on Monday.
The testimony and a related committee report have intensified concerns that progressive prosecutors are quietly carving out immigration-based exceptions to criminal law, even as President Trumps second administration seeks to restore equal enforcement and border security.
During the hearing, Dehghani-Tafti was questioned about how her office handles DUI cases involving recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that merely defers immigration action and does not confer lawful status.
She acknowledged that her office had invoked the policy less than 10 times, explaining, The policy is to take into consideration that they will not get their status renewed, and that the goal is to craft a resolution that would allow them to get the status renewed while holding them accountable.
Describing how this works in practice, Dehghani-Tafti testified, Sometimes that was revoke bond and spend some time in jail, you know, and then well do like a lateral shift to a different charge, insisting that cases are Not dismiss differently than anyone else, not reduce necessarily, but, you know, allow, like do X, Y, and Z, and we will then, you know, in consideration of the extra stuff youve done, turn it into a sort of later different, like, but a lateral charge.
She clarified the term, adding, And what I mean by lateral is if something is a first-degree misdemeanor, it would still be a first-degree misdemeanor on their record.
The House Judiciary Committee, which has been scrutinizing local sanctuary practices that undermine federal immigration law, released a report on Arlington Countys policies alongside the transcript.
That report highlighted an internal memo from Dehghani-Taftis office explicitly directing prosecutors to weigh immigration outcomes for DACA offenders in DUI cases, effectively creating a two-tiered system of justice.
In the memo, Dehghani-Tafti wrote, A DUI conviction constitutes a significant misdemeanor in the eyes of [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] and would prevent an individual from renewing their DACA status and thereby subjecting them to deportation back to a country they likely have never known. A DUI conviction for DACA recipients can therefore have disproportionate and devastating collateral consequences. Because of this, we must take an individuals 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 document further instructed line prosecutors, In an effort to do our part to prevent the disproportionate collateral consequences of a DUI conviction for a DACA recipient, ensure that defense counsel disclose their clients DACA status to you early on. We can only take appropriate steps if we know about the status to begin with.
For critics of sanctuary-style governance, the Arlington policy exemplifies how left-wing prosecutors prioritize the immigration status of non-citizens over equal treatment under the law and the safety of American communities.
As President Trumps administration continues to press for stricter enforcement and an end to special protections for illegal immigrants, revelations like these are likely to fuel further demands for oversight of local prosecutors who appear more focused on preserving DACA renewals than on sending a clear deterrent message about the dangers of drunk driving.
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