Non-Citizens Can Now Become Police Officers in Illinois
Illinois Gov. Jay Robert Pritzker has signed into law a bill allowing non-citizens to become police officers over the objection of the biggest police union in the state, which called it a “potential crisis of confidence in law enforcement.”
Illinois Gov. Jay Robert Pritzker has signed into law a bill allowing non-citizens to become police officers over the objection of the biggest police union in the state, which called it a “potential crisis of confidence in law enforcement.”
Mr. Pritzker signed HB3751 into law on July 28, allowing non-citizens to apply to become police officers in Illinois with immediate effect, provided that they’re legally authorized to work in the United States.
Foreign nationals who are legally authorized under federal law to work in the United States or any foreign national who “is an individual against whom immigration action has been deferred by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process” but who is authorized to possess a firearm can now apply to become a police officer in Illinois, according to the text of the bill.
Federal law states that only U.S. citizens can serve as police officers and deputies but laws and legislative efforts in a number of states have changed that in the face of staffing shortages.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a rally at Federal Building Plaza in Chicago on April 27, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
‘Working Our Officers To a Nub’
Violent crime-ridden Chicago is among the Illinois cities most acutely in need of new recruits.
“We’re dealing with a lot of people who are just emboldened and they’re shooting people recklessly in the daytime also,” Fred Waller, Chicago’s interim police superintendent, told local outlet WGN9 in June.
“I’m never gonna say we can’t use more manpower, more resources,” Mr. Waller said, per the outlet. “We’re really working our officers to a nub. We’re canceling days off all the time.”
The Chicago Police Department (CPD), alongside many other departments across the United States, is hemorrhaging officers faster than it can find qualified applicants. Data suggests that the CPD has lost more than 3,300 officers and staff between 2019 and 2022, but has hired just 1,600 people to fill vacancies after a wave of quits by officers demoralized by the anti-police riots and calls to “defund the police” in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
‘Potential Crisis of Confidence’
While the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, which represents some 33,000 active duty and retired police officers in the state, said it would welcome new recruits “with open arms,” it would do so only after the candidates become U.S. citizens.
“The main function of police officers is to enforce the law, to ensure that people in their jurisdictions abide by all applicable laws. What message does this legislation send when it allows people who do not have legal status to become the enforcers of our laws?” the group wrote in a statement in early July, once the bill passed the state legislature awaiting Mr. Pritzker’s signature.
“This is a potential crisis of confidence in law enforcement at a time when our officers need all of the public confidence they can get. Make no mistake, we will welcome these potential police recruits with open arms once their citizenship status is solidified, and look forward to the unique perspective they can bring to our profession,” it added.
Some state lawmakers also opposed the measure. State Sen. Chapin Rose, a Republican, said during a debate on the bill that allowing non-citizens to arrest American citizens would be a “fundamental breach” of democracy.
“It’s just a fundamentally bad idea,” Mr. Rose said in May. “I don’t care where this individual is from—Australia—they should not be able to arrest a United States citizen on United States soil.”
Non-Citizen Cops In Other States
Earlier this year, California adopted a bill that would allow non-citizens with valid work authorizations to become police officers.
Much like its Illinois counterpart, the San Diego Police Officers Association expressed serious concerns about the measure.
“The San Diego Police Department has lost over 500 officers since July of 2020. That’s drastic. We need everyone we can to be able to be a police officer. However, we are not in favor of reducing the requirements and lowering the standards,” said Sgt. Jared Wilson, speaking as president and on behalf of the San Diego Police Officer’s Association, CBS8 reported at the time.
California State Sen. Nancy Skinner, who authored the California measure (Senate Bill 960), said the bill simply brought police officers into alignment with other professions, including the military.
“When you look at California’s rules, almost every other profession, lawyers, doctors … even firefighters … are able to be part of that profession as long as they have full legal authorization, full federal legal work authorization. It was only our sworn officers we restricted that way,” Ms. Skinner said in January, per CBS8.
“Ironically, in the military, you could be an officer in the military and you could not be a peace officer in California. So that’s why we felt it was totally right to fix the rule,” she added.
According to an analysis by the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force, a number of states have laws like the one just adopted in Illinois; namely that applicants for police jobs can be non-citizens provided that they have legal work authorization.
This includes California, Louisiana, and Maine, among others.
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
