Texas Rep. Brandon Gill sharply questioned Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano during a congressional hearing over a plea deal involving an illegal immigrant convicted in a sex crime case involving a minor.
During the hearing, Gill focused on the case of Ander Cortez-Mendez, a Guatemalan national who was initially charged with carnal knowledge of a child between 13 and 14 years old. Prosecutors later reduced the charge to misdemeanor consensual sex with a minor aged 15 or older, resulting in a suspended 90-day jail sentence.
Gill questioned whether Descano’s office considered immigration consequences when handling the case, citing a Fairfax County policy stating prosecutors may weigh the “detrimental impact” deportation could have on a defendant’s family.
As Mediaite reports:
Gill pressed Descano if that policy was in part why Ander Cortez-Mendez, 21, was given a suspended 90-day jail sentence and charged with consensual sex with a minor. The illegal migrant was convicted in 2024 for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor.
“Ander Cortez-Mendez is a convicted sex offender, and exactly the type of illegal alien that ICE officers seek to remove from Washington, D.C. and Virginia,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russell Hott said in a statement. “We refuse to allow such offenders to continue to threaten the residents of our neighborhoods. ICE Washington, D.C. and our law enforcement partners will continue to arrest and remove criminal aliens from the streets of our communities.”
Gill used his time on Thursday to focus on the case. Descano argued that the eventual charge was “evidentiary-based” and that the policy Gill mentioned should not have had an influence on the case.
WATCH:
The exchange came amid broader Republican scrutiny of so-called sanctuary policies and prosecutorial discretion involving illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes. Immigration enforcement officials have separately described Cortez-Mendez as a convicted sex offender targeted for removal proceedings.
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FAIRFAX County ATTORNEY “Steve Descano” Should Serve The 40 Years In Prison That Illegal Immigrant “Ander Cortez-Mendez Would have Served For Raping a 13 Year Old Girl! Attorney’s & Judges Must Be Help ACCOUNTABLE For Their LACK Of JUSTICE!