Struggling Police Forces Look to Hire Noncitizens

Grappling with a shortage of police officers, politicians in Democrat-controlled states are considering noncitizens to fill the ranks.

In California, a law that took effect this year allows noncitizens to serve if they are protected from deportation, including by the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Colorado and Illinois have reportedly passed similar measures aimed at putting noncitizens on the force.

Experts who spoke with The Washington Times said the idea ventures into uncharted territory.

“It’s a massive problem,” said Matt O’Brien, a former immigration judge now with the Immigration Reform Law Institute. “You’ve got this muddle of issues where there is no settled law, and it’s now crashing into the fact that these idiots in the ‘defund the police ‘ movement have caused a crisis in law enforcement.”

Supporters of the idea cite the need for more police officers and the desire to attract a more diverse applicant pool. They say noncitizen candidates must meet the same qualifications as citizens and complete training.

Elizabeth Jacobs, director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Times that allowing noncitizens to enforce laws “raises questions of fairness, of conflicts of interest and security.”

“If we are having folks that our government knows are in violation of the law or have broken the law and we are deputizing them to enforce other laws, that doesn’t bring confidence to our legal system,” Jacobs said.

The California law allows those with valid work permits issued by the Department of Homeland Security to sign up, including DACA recipients and those who entered the U.S. illegally but were granted tentative status due to the conditions in their home countries.

According to the Times, it could also include some illegal immigrants who were caught and released into the country, many who paid substantial sums to reach the U.S. and are indebted to the cartels.

“The whole thing is lunacy,” said Rosemary Jenks, vice president at NumbersUSA, which calls for stricter immigration controls.

“We know nothing, literally nothing, about these people other than what they told us. We don’t even know if they’re giving us their real names, and if they have a criminal record back home, they’re definitely not giving us their real names. So how are you going to vet people?”

In 2021, a DACA recipient applied to the police force in Greeley, Colorado, and made it to the testing stage before the department ran into a problem while conducting background checks, Colorado Public Radio reported. Attorneys for the department said the applicant wasn’t authorized to carry a gun.

Adopted this year, Colorado’s law gives DACA recipients and those who have “applied to obtain asylum status” a chance to serve. Police departments can arm noncitizen officers but must comply with federal law.

The Illinois law says DACA recipients can sign up, but must be eligible, under federal law, to possess a firearm.

According to the Times, Congress pushed an anti-corruption law through during the Bush years to counter Border Patrol agents who were controlled by the cartels after the agency increased hiring.

Police1.com columnist Tom Burrell said that such scenarios could potentially happen under the new state laws, but could be prevented with comprehensive background checks.

“In the end, American law enforcement is facing a crisis,” Burrell wrote. “While allowing noncitizens is unlikely to completely fill the gap, it is a step in the right direction.”