Countywide

The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office isn’t backing down on its policy guidance for cases involving undocumented immigrants as defendants.

A day after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it’s investigating the policy for potential civil rights violations, a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office criticized the probe as “the latest example of the Trump Administration’s own ‘pattern or practice’ of misusing the Justice Department to launch partisan attacks.”


Countywide

The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office over its handling of cases involving undocumented immigrants as defendants.

The Justice Department notified Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano today (Wednesday) that it has opened an investigation into his office’s policy advising prosecutors to consider defendants’ immigration status when making decisions about plea agreements, charges and sentencing.


Countywide

The Washington region lost over 62,000 federal jobs from January 2025 to January of this year, putting the region’s federal workforce at its lowest figures since 1990, according to a new Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments analysis.

The D.C. region’s 16.5% dip in federal workforce was topped only by nearby Baltimore, which shed 20.5% of its federal jobs over the same time frame. The New York statistical area lost 7.4% of its federal jobs, and Philadelphia dipped 10.1%.


Countywide

The number of jobless residents in Fairfax County jumped by more than a third — 33.8%, to be precise — year over year to start 2026, according to new state data.

A total of 23,749 county residents were reported seeking work in January, up from 17,744 a year before, based on figures released April 16 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.


Countywide

Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has recommended changes to bills on immigration enforcement from a Fairfax County state senator.

State Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37) had introduced Senate versions of the bills to restrict federal immigration enforcement in certain places, prevent law enforcement from wearing masks and ban state and local law enforcement agreements with federal immigration enforcement.


Countywide

United Airlines is testing a digital tracker for airport security wait times after the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown snarled lines at major airports across the country.

Touting the tool as the “first of its kind” from a major U.S. airline, United added the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wait times tracker to its mobile app on Wednesday (April 1). It’s currently available for seven pilot locations, including Dulles International Airport.


News

The federal government has launched an investigation of its own into allegations that a Fairfax High School student groped multiple female students.

The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday (Monday) on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that it’s opening an investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools “following reports from 12 high school girls who have credibly accused one male student — an illegal immigrant — of sexual assault.”


News

The Federal Communications Commission announced yesterday (Thursday) that it has approved local television giant Nexstar Media Group’s $6.2 billion takeover of Tysons-based rival Tegna.

Earlier that same day, Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and his counterparts in seven other states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, arguing that the merger will illegally reduce competition in journalism and the broadcasting industry while resulting in increased prices and worker layoffs.


News

When she officially retires next month after 25 years, Cornerstones CEO Kerrie Wilson is confident that she will be leaving the Reston-based social services nonprofit in more-than-capable hands.

With both major projects and a turbulent economic and political climate to manage, the Cornerstones Board of Directors couldn’t have chosen a better successor for her than Shannon Steene, Wilson told FFXnow in an interview earlier this month.


Countywide

Fairfax County ended 2025 with nearly 20% more residents unable to find work than it started the year.

New figures reported yesterday (Wednesday) by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advance pegged the county’s unemployment rate at 3.3% in December. Though down from 3.8% in November, it was up from 2.7% at the start of the year.


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