July 16, 2021, Woodbridge, Virginia — In response to the announcement by Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, of the launch of a new program to collect data on if race affects treatment in court, Luis Aguilar, Virginia State Director for CASA, the largest member-based immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region, released the following statement:

“Analyzing how race and socioeconomic status affects Virginians as they move through the court system is what we need to start keeping our community safe and address inequities in our criminal justice system. CASA applauds the Fairfax County commonwealth’s attorney for launching this program. We look forward to the hard data it will collect and how it will be used to inform the court system to reduce mass incarceration and keep communities whole. CASA members know first-hand how race affects their daily lives, from simple interactions with police to the protection of data sharing through the DMV. Together, we can build a more fair and welcoming Virginia for all.”

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With over 115,000 members across the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, CASA is the largest member-based Latino and immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region. Visit us at www.wearecasa.org and follow us on Twitter at @CASAforall.