Allowing non-citizens to police Americans in Illinois will lower law enforcement standards and have "unintended consequences," a sheriff in the southern part of the state said.
"If an immigrant wants to be a peace officer in this country, then go through the naturalization process, become a citizen, and then apply," Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard told Fox News. "That way we know they've been properly vetted."
"We know that they stand up to the character test to be a U.S. citizen," he continued. "We can be comfortable to put them in with all other candidates that want to be a peace officer."
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Gov. J. B. Pritzker on Friday signed into law a bill allowing non-U.S. citizens in Illinois to become police officers. The measure, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, states that "an individual who is not a citizen but is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law is authorized to apply for the position of police officers." The bill also includes Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients in the group of non-citizens eligible to become police officers.
"Being a peace officer in Illinois or any other state is one of the most trusted positions in government that our citizens have because a peace officer can not only infringe upon constitutional rights while investigating a crime or enforcing laws," Bullard said. "The citizens give us the authority to do that."
"They also grant us the authority to possibly take a life when circumstances warrant it's needed to save a life," he added. "That's a huge responsibility and a very trusted position."
Those significant responsibilities mean "we have to be very careful when vetting candidates," according to the sheriff.
Federal law forbids non-U.S. citizens to serve as police officers and deputies.
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The new Illinois law states that non-U.S. citizens are subject "to all requirements and limitations, other than citizenship, to which other applicants are subject" and must be legally allowed to possess firearms.
Bullard said he doesn’t think the requirements in the bill are thorough enough to maintain the current standards when hiring officers.
"It's a case of putting the cart before the horse," he said. "If the government would come up with a proper vetting procedure for a peace officer before introducing something like this, where we could be 100% certain, just like we are in a background of a naturalized citizen, then it would be something that we would be more comfortable with."
"But just a temporary work visa, we don't believe that goes far enough," he added.
Rep. Barbara Hernandez, who sponsored the bill, defended the measure as a "natural progression" of the 2021 federal decision to allow some undocumented immigrants to work as healthcare workers and military members. When introducing the bill in May, the Democrat said she hopes "to not only help DACA recipients but also help the police departments that are currently going through a lot of shortage with … either COVID or retirement."
Opponents, however, criticized the idea of non-citizens arresting Americans.
"You're having a non-citizen swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of a state and a country that they're not a citizen of," Bullard told Fox News. "There's a problem with that."
Earlier this year, Illinois implemented sweeping criminal justice reforms passed in the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, which included eliminating cash bail, preventing police from arresting non-violent trespassers and limiting when defendants can be deemed flight risks.
Bullard said that over the three decades he's served in law enforcement, he's watched the state continually push for "less and less criminal accountability and consequences for offenders who commit crimes in our state."
"I think that our state government, because of politics, is ignoring sound systems we already have in place," he added. "They're also ignoring the experts in the field who are advising them that there are potential problems with their reform ideas."
