The European Parliament has called for more spending to build affordable houses — using funds for regional development that currently make up a third of the EU budget.
Cohesion funds should be used to protect the ‘right to stay’ in rural areas or in small cities, a principle that the parliament wants to write into the new budget legislation.
Peripheral regions often face depopulation due to few job opportunities, according to a parliamentary non-binding report passed with 601 votes in favour, 20 against, and 36 abstentions on Tuesday (20 October).
MEPs are also calling for strong cohesion funds that would allow cities to better prepare for climate emergencies and provide a budget for additional investments in housing.
Cohesion funds, which account for a total of €48.03bn in the existing 2021-2027 EU budget, usually finance infrastructure projects, like bridges, roads, or railways in countries with a lower-than-average per capita gross national income.
The commission proposed significant cuts to reduce regional funds in the next multi-annual budget, set to cover 2028-34, but a group of 16 member states, often benefitting from the funding, opposed the reduction.
Regional development plays a key role in European integration since it is the “only instrument which can unite all of us,” and should not be reduced in the next EU budget, said Left Lithuanian MEP Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis during a plenary debate on Monday (19 October).
Cohesion funds “could be the response to the radicalisation of Europe,” Fredis Beleris, a German centre-right MEP said.
For that to happen, cohesion funds must be accessible for small and medium-sized cities, who often struggle with formalities linked to EU funds, said Denis Nesci, Italian conservative MEP spearheading the file.
Small municipalities should be able to access cohesion funds “on an equal footing as bigger cities,” he said, echoing the dominant centre-right commission’s position and its aim to simplify regulations.
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia ignored at least 1,670 immigration detainers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2023 and 2025, releasing criminal illegal immigrants back into the community instead of transferring them to federal custody, according to a new House Judiciary Committee report.
The interim staff report – obtained by Fox News before its noon Tuesday release by the committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement – also accuses Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano of treating illegal immigrant defendants differently from similarly situated American citizens to limit their immigration consequences.
"This interim report provides evidence of the ways in which just one local jurisdiction has implemented policies that allow dangerous foreign nationals to reoffend and avoid deportation," the report, issued under House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chair Tom McClintock, R-Calif., concluded.
"But Fairfax County and prosecutor Steve Descano are not outliers. They are indicative of a modern, radical, socialist Democrat Party that seeks to erase national borders and place illegal alien criminals ahead of law-abiding American citizens," the report added. "The policies supported by these Democrats, including sanctuary policies, will have negative and lasting consequences for Americans. The Committee and Subcommittee will continue to conduct oversight of these sanctuary policies to inform potential legislative reforms to better protect American communities."
The committee said a preliminary review of more than 1,100 criminal cases identified more than 100 previously unreported illegal immigrants who benefited from Descano’s prosecutorial decisions. The report said Descano’s office rarely pursued charges against illegal immigrants accused of crimes including driving under the influence, felony drug possession, felony grand larceny, shoplifting, fraud, trespassing, destruction of property and assaulting a law enforcement officer.
The committee accused Descano’s office of "de facto" decriminalizing some offenses and said most of the defendants reviewed went on to reoffend, in some cases escalating to violent crimes and murder.
The report, titled "Fairfax County, Virginia: The dangerous consequences of sanctuary policies," also alleges that Descano misled Congress about the scope of his policies.
"The Biden-Harris Administration worked to weaken the first Trump Administration’s efforts to hold sanctuary jurisdictions accountable for undermining immigration enforcement," the report read. "In addition to dropping federal litigation relating to sanctuary jurisdictions’ policies, the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice Department, beginning in April 2021, no longer required jurisdictions to cooperate with ICE as a condition of receiving federal grant funding."
During testimony before the committee in May, Descano said his policy was "written with legal permanent residents in mind for minor crimes." But in a September letter, the committee said Descano acknowledged that prosecutors could consider immigration consequences in cases involving illegal immigrants as well.
Descano’s campaign website previously stated that when "possible," his office would "make charging and plea decisions that limit or avoid immigration consequences." He also argued that "if two people commit the same crime, but only one’s punishment includes deportation, that’s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County."
The committee cited numerous cases in which it said criminal defendants benefited from reduced or dismissed charges. In one example, prosecutors allegedly reduced felony charges involving the sexual assault of a child to misdemeanor "consensual sex with a child" and offered a 90-day suspended jail sentence.
The report also said Descano’s office dropped more than 50 charges against a serial fraudster from China and allowed defendants charged with malicious wounding, strangulation, assault and battery and other violent offenses to "escape accountability and reoffend."
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney chief of staff Laura Birnbaum rejected the report as "recycled" political talking points before the midterm elections.
"This ‘report’ is nothing more than recycled Republican talking points put out weeks before the midterm elections as a desperate attempt to distract from widely anticipated Republican losses," she said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This committee has churned out nearly identical reports recently on other Democratic-led jurisdictions, and the few sections on Fairfax County contain multiple falsehoods and distortions, since the committee repeatedly ignores public reporting and court records that contradict its narrative. Despite this ongoing series of attacks, we have remained laser-focused on keeping Fairfax County one of the safest large communities in the country, holding individuals accountable when they commit crimes, and respecting the dignity of all members of our community."
The committee detailed a number of cases involving defendants accused of child pornography, rape, abduction, firearm offenses, drug possession and assault. In some cases, the report said, defendants were released despite ICE detainers and later arrested again.
One case involved Marvin Morales-Ortez, an alleged MS-13 member whose charges were dropped before the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office released him in December 2025. The report said Morales-Ortez allegedly murdered a man in Reston, Virginia, one day later.
Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid blamed the release on the lack of prosecution, writing that "the system must work as a whole." She added: "When criminal defendants are prosecuted, authorities are better able to track court dates and monitor releases."
Kincaid has also previously criticized the county’s prosecution practices, stating, "It’s shameful the way things have not been prosecuted."
The report highlighted the case of Stephanie Minter, who was fatally stabbed in February. The suspect, Abdul Jalloh, is an illegal immigrant with more than 40 prior charges in Fairfax County. The committee said Descano’s office had dropped charges against Jalloh in almost every case and that police warned prosecutors before the killing that "it is not a question of if, but rather when [Jalloh] will maliciously wound — or worse — again."
Cheryl Minter, Stephanie’s mother, told the committee that "a system failed my daughter."
"When policies protect people who are a known threat, innocent lives are put at risk," she said. "When warnings are ignored, families like mine pay the price."
The committee said Fairfax County’s policies "threaten public safety and undermine the safe and effective enforcement of federal immigration law." Descano has rejected the allegations and previously said that "the idea that [his office] favor[s] one group over another is completely wrong."
The highly coveted Michelin Guide stars, shining over Athens and Santorini, have just been announced. Greece now boasts a total of 21 stars across the regions currently covered by the guide. The prestigious Michelin stars for Greece have been announced. Beyond Athens, the famous guide’s inspectors have now also visited Santorini and Thessaloniki. In fact, […]
Letter accuses Netanyahu of trying to 'evade responsibility and rewrite history'; billboards go up across Israel featuring images of six hostages killed in tunnel under Rafah
Login
