Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Curran explains why most Senate Republicans voted against allowing non-citizens to serve as law enforcement officers

Posted in:

Illinois
Updated Posts

* We heard yesterday from House Republican Leader Tony McCombie about why all of her caucus voted for House Bill 3751 the first time it went through the chamber. Now, here’s Senate Republican Leader John Curran writing in the Sun-Times about why all but one SGOP cast their vote against the bill…

First, this legislation — as intended and as written — would empower non-citizens with the lawful authority to arrest U.S. citizens in Illinois. This concept was philosophically opposed by most members of our caucus and the constituents they serve.

Second, some claimed the legislation was symbolic, and no non-citizen would be able to become a police officer in Illinois without a change in federal law regarding non-citizen firearm possession. We believe this is inaccurate and this legislation is not merely symbolic. Due to HB 3751’s passage, non-citizen residents lawfully present in the United States on immigrant visas (which are issued to foreign nationals wishing to live in the United States permanently) will now also be eligible to be police officers in Illinois.

Finally, we opposed HB 3751 as a mandate on all local law enforcement departments in Illinois. Any department that does not want to participate in the lax standard could be opening themselves up to significant legal and financial risks. Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, it is a civil rights violation in this state for an employer to refuse to hire an otherwise qualified applicant for a position on the basis of their citizenship or work authorization status.

Therefore, with this new law, if a local sheriff/police department refused to consider a non-citizen for a position as a police officer, their organization would potentially be subject to civil liability. While HB 3751 was presented as an “option” for law enforcement departments, this legislation is actually a mandate to hire non-citizens as police officers.

* Meanwhile, Fox News continues stirring the pot…

Gov. J. B. Pritzker last month signed into law a bill allowing non-U.S. citizens in Illinois to become police officers last month. 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.

“That is the most stupidest bill he could ever sign,” Angel said. “Why would you want an immigrant or any other person to run your city as a police officer?”

…Adding… Heh…

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:42 am

Comments

=== “That is the most stupidest bill he could ever sign,” Angel said. “Why would you want an immigrant or any other person to run your city as a police officer?” ===

I think this statement exemplifies the small-brained, right wing mentality of the Republican party right now. The idea of immigrants make their heads explode to the point that their arguments make no sense at all.

Comment by Hannibal Lecter Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:47 am
==That is the most stupidest bill he could ever sign,==

I guess both Angel and FOX news missed the irony there.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:48 am
The ILGOP is missing the big picture. Legal immigrants are vetted and most want to become Citizens. Empower them thru opportunity.

I served with non citizen immigrants in the Army. They were limited to what rank and responsibilities they could achieve before they attained citizenship. Make police the same way.

Comment by FormerParatrooper Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:55 am
Curran admits the only eligible immigrants would be legal ones, those here on a visa, because they’re the only ones allowed to legally have guns. What’s the problem with someone living here permanently being a cop? Besides all the racism.

Comment by Perrid Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:56 am
“That is the most stupidest bill he could ever sign,” Angel said. “Why would you want an immigrant or any other person to run your city as a police officer?”
——
Because we’re all immigrants.

Comment by Jerry Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:56 am
Wait, it would “empower non-citizens with the lawful authority to arrest U.S. citizens” but it’s also symbolic and no non-citizen is going to be able to become a police officer?

What you meant is you’re just saying that first part to scare people.

Comment by One hand //ing Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 9:59 am
I agree FormerTrooper. Anyone willing to protect my country can protect my neighborhood.

Comment by Lurker Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:00 am
— What’s the problem with someone living here permanently being a cop? Besides all the racism.—

The racism has been elevated to the basis of policy.

Comment by King Louis XVI Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:01 am
the lax standard

Holy cow, he actually put this in a statement.

Comment by The Truth Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:15 am
This is just common sense to allow those qualified and here legally to work. We do this with many physicians and certainly we are far better off.

Comment by clec dcn Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:22 am
It’s raising a bigger picture issue which (I believe) will grow in importance over the coming decades: the growing need for government authority larger than just our country — most obvious for immigration but also for pollution / global warming, intellectual property and free trade / labor.

Look at the European Union. Something like that is inevitable for North America. Border issues aren’t going away. Investment and engagement in Central America and Mexico is obviously necessary. But how do we reduce the flow of drugs into the US, protect the millions of people who are seeking a better life, weaken the narcos and increase prosperity and trade? Going to eventually need something like the European Union for our hemisphere.

We’re already deeply economically and culturally integrated with Mexico and Central America. Just not that politically/governmentally integrated yet. All those non-citizens (DACA and permanent residents) are overwhelmingly from our hemisphere. Our governments structures are going to have to modernize to catch up to the reality. And the ‘citizenship’ push back is a real tension and issue and conceptual shift that we are all going through.

I imagine it was like that during the 18th century when former colonists had to give up their citizenship to Virginia or Pennsylvania or South Carolina in favor of the new United States. I imagine that was pretty rocky for a generation or two.

Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:23 am
Why bother being a citizen at this point? What material value does it bring? The right to pay taxes? Lol

The right to own land.
The right to work.
The right to vote.
Right to be an officer.
Right to hold military positions.

These were all once prized rights and the pinnacle of a civil society. Now in modern America such things are open to anyone anywhere in the world with the right amount of direct or indirect capital.

The level of obtuseness coming from the left is bewildering and well demonstrated in studies.

You’ll hate your fellows and love the great other for the sake of platitudes. And the world laughs.

Comment by UPS Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:25 am
===Why bother being a citizen at this point? ===

You’re free to leave whenever you want, bub.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:28 am
@UPS: non citizens have worked and owned land and served in the military for decades. Non citizens are restricted in voting, in serving on juries, in running for office. And nothing in this bill changes that.

If you think one party is overheating, you only have to look in the mirror.

Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:31 am
For those that only want American citizens to serve as police officers, the question is: are they willing to pay more in taxes in order to pay the wage that American citizens want? There are a lot of job opportunities available. A lot that will pay more, have better hours and will be less stressful.

Comment by Appears Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:32 am
UPS, I am not a leftists, and I can be behind this option. And news for you, in our fight to become the US there many non citizens and immigrants who led and fought to achieve that mission.

I personally know non citizens who served and died for this Countryn posthumously being awarded the citizenship they were working towards.

Maybe read the bill and use a little logic.

Comment by FormerParatrooper Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:37 am
===non citizens have worked and owned land … for decades===

Centuries.

Also, non-citizens can’t vote. But they were allowed to vote in the past.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:40 am
===Any department that does not want to participate in the lax standard could be opening themselves up to significant legal and financial risks.===

Leaving aside the “lax standard” lie, yes, that is what happens when you break the law: you open yourself up to significant legal and financial risks.

===While HB 3751 was presented as an “option” for law enforcement departments, this legislation is actually a mandate to hire non-citizens as police officers.===

Three words: read the bill.

Comment by Nick Name Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:42 am
In committee it was said that the genesis of this bill was the Blue Island Police Department. By Republican logic, if they don’t support this bill, they are anti-police.

Comment by Google Is Your Friend Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:52 am
As the House GOP is drowning Leader Curran throws them an anchor.

Comment by Trap Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 10:53 am
So UPS
==
The right to own land.
The right to work.
The right to vote.
Right to be an officer.
Right to hold military positions.
==

Going to go with a couple of examples of people, one real and one hypothetical.
The real one is my former pastor, who has lived here with a green card for 40+ years and is married to a US citizen. The hypothetical one is a classmate of one of my kids, let us say his folks have been here for a while on a green card and are in the process of becoming citizens, but that takes some time.

The right to own land.

I don’t see the significant risk of having my former pastor own a home (either on his own or with his wife).

The right to work.

I admit I didn’t always agree with my Pastor, but he was a good man and did a tremendous job preaching and actually pastoring. It would seem to be a shame not to compensate him for doing that in the US.

I work in IT and have worked with many non-US Citizens (many of whom have gone on to become US Citizens). It seems from your perspective these folks shouldn’t work in the US until they are US Citizens. I think I would rather have them pay US taxes (when we bring people in, they have to declare a salary on the form and post the forms) than work remotely and pay taxes to a different country for labor that is performed basically in the US. Going to be blunt here, you limit domestic IT work to US citizens that work will just move overseas. We, to a degree, do not have enough talent domestically for some of that work.

Going to use a specific example. I have worked with two people who have Ph.D.s in mathematics from highly respected eastern block universities (both got them under communism). One has been involved in his kid’s school and the community, and one adds significant value to ‘open source’ software used by entities worldwide. It seems like it would have been a tremendous waste not to let these folks come to the US and work and add value to the US economy.

Right to be an officer.

Assuming you mean a police officer here. Guess I am missing why someone with a green card shouldn’t be able to do this job. It’s not like I have any way of knowing today if a cop is a citizen. Using my Pastor as an example, the dude is from Canada and only has a hint of a Canadian accent, if he was a police officer, I would have no way of knowing he wasn’t a citizen. It seems a bit daft (unless you insist that your doctors are all US Citizens) that police officer should be the limit for a legal resident.

Right to hold military positions.

Over 300,000 foreign-born individuals served in the US Military in WWII.

They still have to register for the draft.

https://www.sss.gov/register/immigrants/#:~:text=In%20the%20Event%20of%20a%20Draft&text=However%2C%20some%20non%2Dcitizens%20and,for%20less%20than%20one%20year

Going to point this out to start with
“Virtually all men living in the U.S., including non-citizens, are required to register with Selective Service at www.sss.gov when they turn 18 years old. This includes undocumented immigrants, legal permanent residents, those seeking asylum, and refugees.”

Some more useful information

Some countries have agreements with the U.S. which exempt a non-citizen national who is a citizen of both that country and the U.S. from military service in the U.S. Armed Forces. A non-citizen who requests and is exempt under an agreement or bilateral treaty can never become a U.S. citizen, and may have trouble reentering the U.S. if he leaves.

Also

In the Event of a Draft
Most are liable for induction into the U.S. Armed Forces if there is a draft. They would also be eligible for any deferments, postponements, and exemptions available to all other registrants.

So I am guessing you would insist that these folks be exempted from registering for the draft or the draft.

Putting that all aside for a minute, it would seem to me that US residents of good character may, for example, have extensive language skills in a specific language that might be useful.

In WWII

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/new-citizen-soldiers-naturalization#:~:text=Male%20non%2Dcitizens%20had%20to,a%20fast%20track%20to%20citizenship.

Male non-citizens had to register for the draft like their citizen counterparts. If they entered into service, either by the draft or enlistment, they did not automatically receive citizenship nor were they required to naturalize. But military service during World War II was a fast track to citizenship.

Over 300,000 foreign-born individuals served in the US Army during World War II. In 1940, nearly one in every 11 individuals residing in the United States, approximately 11,600,000 people, were born outside the country.

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:03 am
=== Therefore, with this new law, if a local sheriff/police department refused to consider a non-citizen for a position as a police officer, their organization would potentially be subject to civil liability. ===

So Leader Curran is arguing explicit that local police and sheriff departments should be allowed to violate the law if they see fit.

This is the same argument used to oppose the SAFE-T Act and other Acts/Laws that affect policing in Illinois. Republicans want to argue that police and sheriffs should have the authority to decide which laws they will and will not enforce and/or follow.

Advocating that LEJA actors are and should be above the rule of law is authoritarianism, plain and simple. If Republicans continue to run on this, they must acknowledge that they oppose Constitutional principles of due process, and equality before the law and even equal opportunity, not just regarding immigrants, but also with regard to citizens writ large.

Comment by H-W Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:04 am
You’ll hate your fellows and love the great other for the sake of platitudes. And the world laughs.

our fellow…who? C’mon, you can say it!

Comment by The Truth Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:04 am
===should be allowed to violate the law if they see fit===

The law says “may” hire not “shall” hire. There’s no violation if they don’t choose to hire, but Curran believes it could open them up to lawsuits. Maybe. I dunno. Anyone can sue for anything. Look at DeVore.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:06 am
“Why would you want an immigrant or any other person to run your city as a police officer?”

Because we’re running out of new cops. Gotta get them from somewhere.

Comment by Save Ferris Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:10 am
==Why bother being a citizen at this point?==

So non-college educated immigrants with visas should be limited to landscaping, home/car repair, preparing your meals, and watching your kids/elderly…ALL at discount prices. Is that it?

Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:12 am
==Why bother being a citizen at this point?==

Perhaps you should ask the long line of immigrants trying to become citizens.

Comment by duck duck goose Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:19 am
We can trust permanent residents to handle nukes in the military but they can’t be trusted to be cops. Hypocrisy and racism are now public policy for some. Sad.

Comment by Glengarry Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:25 am
== The law says “may” hire not “shall” hire. There’s no violation if they don’t choose to hire, but Curran believes it could open them up to lawsuits. Maybe. I dunno. Anyone can sue for anything. Look at DeVore.==

Citing the human rights act as a reason to vote against the bill is honestly asinine. The human rights act provision exists separately from what was in this bill, and would still exist even if this bill never passed. And if the law otherwise states that an immigrant cannot legally possess firearms, and could thus not have full police powers (which is still the case for those who are supposedly the “illegals”…unless the Millers (no relation) of the Party are finally coming out as full blooded Know Nothing anti-any-and-all-immigrants), that provision of the human rights act would not apply. It would be a distinction of qualifications based on citizenship status, being Federally prohibited to carry a firearm, and clearly fall under the exemptions to the human rights act protections.

All of this is just another amazing clown show in the circus that is the current day Illinois Republican Party.

Comment by fs Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:41 am
Dagnabbit, I don’t want some feriner comin’ over here mowin’ my Americum grass and pullin’ my Americum weeds … trailing off into authentic frontier gibberish.

Comment by West Side the Best Side Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 11:45 am
I was at a state park in northern Illinois last week having lunch at the lodge with my wife and two young grandsons. A maintenance person there came to our table and asked me “did you hear Pritzker signed a law that says illegal immigrants can now become cops?” I told him not true, read the bill, and wondered why he felt he needed to bother us with that statement. Then he added that Pritzker is also out to take his guns away. I replied wrong again.

Comment by Siualum Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 1:14 pm
@UPS, there’s a great quote from Abraham Lincoln, which made me think that you should just move to Russia:

“As a nation, we begin by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes.” When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics.” When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty-to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy.”

Comment by Steve Rogers Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 1:20 pm
How many millions of dollars in settlements has Chicago paid out because of the citizens in CPD?

Being a citizen does not inherently make you more qualified to be a cop.

Comment by Homebody Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 1:24 pm
If you’re willing to put your life on the line to save others, that’s good enough for me.

Comment by Anon E Moose Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 1:25 pm
This is so confusing. /s Thought Republicans want law and order and back the blue. The prospective cops would be lawfully-admitted. “We want people to come here legally, okay?” (see DJT supporting legal immigration at his rallies).

The lawfully-admitted are subject to laws, why shouldn’t they be able to enforce them?

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 1:50 pm
UPS, my great uncle came from Serbia without papers. He earned a Purple Heart in World War 2 in Europe. He was hard of hearing his entire life. You really can bite me.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 1:54 pm
It is good to showcase Sen. Curran doin the demo on how to maintain his super duper minority — something both Brady and others were smart enough to quit. Perhaps Curran could get the My Pillow guy to keynote his day at the Fair.

Comment by Annonin' Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 2:04 pm
UPS, noncitizens do pay taxes. The depth and breadth of your ignorance is something else.

Comment by Big Dipper Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 5:28 pm
“The right to vote.”
Republicans do enough already to restrict this from citizens.

Comment by Proud Papa Bear Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 5:37 pm
One of the best assistant states attorneys I was ever in a court room with (prosecuted the snot out of criminals) was Canadian.

As a cop, send me some guys and gals who want nothing more than to be the best citizens and cops they can be. My bet is that they would be dynamite human beings. And dynamite to work with.

Comment by Occasionally Moderated Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 5:54 pm
I am a leftists…heh.

Comment by Dotnonymous x Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 8:02 pm
I havre been thinking about this all afternoon.

This is a great topic.

Looking back on my first 30 years in law enforcement, I bet I worked with more than one guy/gal who may/may not have been officially a U.S. citizen. I worked with a ton of men who were of Polish, Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage. I am certain that some had parents who were “not legal.”

I am blessed to have worked with them.

Weird as it sounds, I have enjoyed the trip down memory lane this post has initiated.

Comment by Occasionally Moderated Tuesday, Aug 8, 23 @ 8:30 pm