A Twisted Sense of Priorities
Fairfax leaders favor illegal-immigrant rights over girls’ safety in schools.
by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora
Republished with permission from IWFeatures
On March 7, Israel Flores Ortiz, an 18-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador enrolled as a junior at Fairfax High School, was arrested for allegedly fondling the genitals of multiple female students in the hallways during school hours.
More than two weeks after the students reported the incidents to school officials—and only after his arrest—Fairfax High School Principal Georgina Aye sent an email notifying parents of the incident.
“We are writing to share the news of the recent arrest of a student who was charged with inappropriately touching other students at school,” she wrote. “These incidents involved the student touching students’ buttocks while they were transitioning in the hallways.”
The email notably did not disclose that the alleged perpetrator was an adult who illegally entered the country in 2024, nor that the alleged “touching” extended beyond the victims’ “buttocks.” One mother of an alleged victim described the delayed email as a “completely sanitized letter” that minimized the harm done.
Incredibly, the parents also reported that district leaders informed them Ortiz would be permitted to return to the high school after his release from jail.
IW Features emailed FCPS’s media relations office seeking clarification about the district’s policy on allowing adult students to return to their schools if they are accused of sexual assault and/or convicted of assault and battery. As of publication, the district has not responded.
Indeed, waiting to notify parents about multiple accusations of sexual assault during school hours is especially surprising when considering another serious—yet arguably less serious—incident that occurred at a middle school in Fairfax County last week. Irving Middle School’s interim principal, Kathleen Quigley, sent a more immediate notification to parents regarding racist language and offensive graffiti found in a bathroom.
On March 12, Quigley wrote in an email, “Let me be clear: FCPS does not tolerate discriminatory harassment in our schools. Every student in FCPS has the right to feel safe, respected, and affirmed in our schools.” She continued, “Words matter — in every context and every situation. In partnership with the FCPS Chief Equity Office, we will continue working within our school to foster dialogue about dignity, belonging, and humanization.”
It would seem that actions also should “matter” and that “dignity, belonging, and humanization” are also important concepts for the alleged victims of sexual assault.
Fairfax High School families, a community affected by such accusations, should also have the right to be notified immediately. Yet, the mothers of alleged victims claim that the school only sent the email after they pressured the central office to do so.
IW Features reached out to FCPS for clarification regarding the district’s policy on notifying parents when an adult allegedly sexually assaults multiple students at a school. As of publication, the district had not responded.
County officials are failing Fairfax residents at all levels. Following Ortiz’s arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer, which Stacey Kincaid, the county’s sheriff, reportedly refuses to honor.
As IW Features previously reported, the elected Democratic sheriff’s commitment to criminal illegal immigrants and her refusal to cooperate with ICE dates back to a letter issued on Jan. 22, 2018, long before the county’s leaders enacted its sanctuary policy in 2021. Kincaid wrote, “After the date of termination, May 23, 2018, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office will not honor any requests to detain individuals subject to an administrative detention request…”
On March 13, six days after his arrest, Ortiz faced nine counts of assault and battery—not sexual assault— in court. These lesser charges were filed by the soft-on-crime, George Soros-backed Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.
IW Features requested comment from Descano about the reasons his office did not charge Ortiz with the more serious counts of sexual assault. As of publication, his office has not responded.
“Steve Descano charged this [alleged] sexual predator with misdemeanors—meaning that even if he is convicted, he will not be required to register as a sex offender,” Sean Kennedy, president of Virginians for Safe Communities, told IW Features.
And not surprisingly, given his track record, Descano also accepted Ortiz’s lawyer’s request for bail. Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith, however, denied the request, arguing that Ortiz’s release from jail would not properly protect the public.
“The hero in this horrible case is Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith, who bravely stood up to Descano’s dangerous policies and ordered Ortiz held in jail. She deserves a medal and ticker-tape parade,” Kennedy told IW Features.
Letting Ortiz off with a slap on the wrist is typical for Fairfax County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. As IW Features has previously reported, Descano has a long history of dropping charges or supporting minimal sentences for violent illegal immigrants.
Last month, for example, Abdul Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national in the country illegally, fatally stabbed Stephanie Minter, a 41-year-old mother, at a bus stop in Fairfax County, according to law enforcement. Prior to Minter’s murder, Jalloh had been arrested more than 30 times for multiple violent offenses, only to be released each time to roam the county’s streets.
Making matters worse, Fairfax County’s education policies also permit these illegal immigrants to attend classes alongside the county’s children. Under current policies, English language learners, including individuals in the country illegally, can enroll in Fairfax County’s schools until the age of 22 at taxpayers’ expense.
Unsurprisingly, many individuals arriving illegally from other countries lack reliable documentation. According to a former FCPS employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity, district officials do not consistently require paperwork to verify a student’s age. As a result, even prospective students who may be older than 22 can still be permitted to enroll. “[FCPS officials] don’t truly verify documents. It’s really any age,” the former employee told IW Features.
The county’s openness to enrolling adult illegal immigrants in its high schools is not only dangerous—it’s expensive. In fiscal year 2026, these students are estimated to cost the taxpayers at least $27,558 per student, excluding any Individualized Education Program (IEP) services. Fairfax County’s average per pupil cost is $21,986, plus an additional $5,572 per student in associated English language learning expenses.
Likely with the intent to evade ICE, district leaders have also admittedly instructed school officials to purge every student’s identity records. On July 1, 2025, Dave Anderson, a senior district manager for student registration, sent an email to school-based registrars—labeled as confidential—that states: “Based on recent Division Counsel guidance reflective of FCPS Policy and the Code of Virginia, FCPS will no longer retain copies of identification documents, including the student birth certificate, in the student’s cumulative file… For clarification purposes, identification documents refer to copies of a parent’s photo ID, such as a driver’s license, passport, etc.”
In fact, an inside source who works for the district confirmed with IW Features that the new policy change is intended to help these individuals evade immigration enforcement.
To that end, on the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, officials in the county’s 199 schools posted signs in nine languages about the county’s sanctuary policy, promising that the district will not collect or retain information pertaining to students’ or their families’ immigration status.
The county’s policies surrounding identity verification, student enrollment, and cooperation with law enforcement have created an environment in which the most basic safeguards meant to protect students have been abandoned. Allowing unverified adults to enroll in high schools, refusing to cooperate with federal detainers, and pursuing minimal criminal charges in cases involving alleged harm to minor students underscore that political commitments are being prioritized at the expense of the community’s safety.
Unfortunately for the alleged victims at Fairfax High School, our county’s leaders seem intent on protecting individuals like Ortiz—an illegal immigrant accused of sexually assaulting multiple students—while the security of the minor students in their public schools takes a back seat.
Stephanie Lundquist-Arora is a Northern Virginia writer.
