Democrat Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed a bill allowing noncitizen immigrants to become police officers.
The bill, HB3751, was signed on Friday and became effective immediately.
It states that 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 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process” can apply to become an officer.
The legislation was strongly opposed by the Fraternal Order of Police. The union noted that an officer’s job is to enforce the law — so someone without legal status should not qualify.
Illinois FOP Statement by Paula Morehouse
“The main function of police officers is to enforce the law, to ensure that people in their jurisdictions abide by all applicable laws,” the FOP wrote.
“What message does this legislation send when it allows people who do not have legal status to become enforcers of our laws?” the union asked. “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 citizenshop status is solidified, and look forward to the unique perspective they can bring to our profession.”
The Daily Wire reports, “During debate on the bill, Illinois state Sen. Chapin Rose (R) said it would be a ‘fundamental breach’ of democracy to allow non-citizens to arrest American citizens.”
“It’s just a fundamentally bad idea,” 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.”