Virginia Dem admits system ‘failure’ after illegal immigrant accused in landlord killing escapes to Tajikistan
Northern Virginia Democrats faced questions about how a Tajik national committed to a psychiatric facility after killing his landlord was twice allowed to leave — once to obtain a passport and once to visit an apartment — before escaping to Tajikistan.
Abdulloi Doniyor Toshpulodzoda had been held at a mental health facility in Falls Church, Virginia, after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the killing of his landlord but was allowed an escorted visit to the Tajik embassy in Foggy Bottom, DC, and later to an Alexandria apartment, where he obtained an airline ticket to Dushanbe and left the country.
"I don't know about investigation, but certainly it's a bad thing that he's not in our custody, not being subject to the laws of the United States," Rep. Donald Beyer, D-Va., told Fox News Digital when asked if federal authorities should investigate the situation.
"There's a failure in the system somewhere along the way. I don't know whether it's failure to put [Toshpulodzoda] in the mental hospital or the hospital didn't have the right security to keep them there. But no, we don't want bad guys on the loose," Beyer said. His district includes Alexandria, Arlington and part of Fairfax County, including the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, where Toshpulodzoda was housed.
Beyer pushed back on criticism of Fairfax County, saying he does not believe local leaders would consider it a "sanctuary" jurisdiction for illegal immigrants. He also said he presumed Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano was justified in having Toshpulodzoda committed to the psychiatric facility.
Beyer also pushed back on arguments that Toshpulodzoda should have been deported rather than committed to a psychiatric facility, saying someone who commits a serious crime should face consequences in the U.S. before being sent home.
"Deportation doesn’t seem sufficient punishment for someone whose [committed] a major felony," Beyer said.
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Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, who represents neighboring Loudoun and Fauquier counties, told Fox News Digital that U.S. laws cover murder and violent crime and that criminals "should be held accountable."
"I've been pretty consistent that if someone's undocumented and they committed a crime, that they should be held accountable for the crime and we should look into whether they should be deported at that point," Subramanyam, a Democrat, said.
"So you know, I think that's the federal law at this point and we have to go case by case though, because not every person who commits any crime should be deported automatically, right."
Subramanyam said officials should consider the circumstances when illegal immigrants commit minor offenses such as moving violations while also verifying a suspect’s immigration status.
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"We have to make sure we go case by case, but. In the instance of violent crime, for instance, they need to be held accountable," he said.
Subramanyam said he wants accountability on both sides of the process, for suspects who break the law and agents who do the same.
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"I want to make sure that if an ICE officer does the wrong thing that they're held accountable and there's not a cover up for them… that's what happened in the case of Renee Good was that a lot of public pressure led to some people getting removed, but that wasn't enough when they need to actually have the DOJ and FBI investigate and prosecute instances where they're going too far."
Good, an anti-ICE activist in Minnesota, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in January after officials said she tried to strike him with her car while shadowing immigration enforcement operations.
Laura Birnbaum, a spokesperson for Descano, told Fox News Digital that the office did not oppose Toshpulodzoda’s escorted visit to the embassy in 2024 but has successfully argued multiple times in court against his outright release.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Tajik embassy for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.