Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank has condemned a bill that would allow noncitizens to become involved in law enforcement.
Senate Bill 5068 would allow foreigners authorized to work in the U.S. and DACA recipients to apply for and be hired as law enforcement officers, including with the Department of Fish & Wildlife, as well as for non-elected positions such as deputy prosecutors, American Faith reported.
“We’re talking about a police officer’s ability to take away your rights under certain situations,” State Rep. Jenny Graham (R) said earlier this month. “These would be individuals that are not U.S. citizens that have the ability now to take away the rights of a U.S. citizen.”
In a post on X, Swank wrote that he was “shocked that every state senator voted for this bill,” asserting that Pierce County will “not be hiring non-citizens” under his watch.
“Some people try to compare joining the military to being a law enforcement officer. When you join the military, you (hopefully) don’t arrest citizens,” he wrote. “This is a straw man argument. I support non-citizens joining the military, not law enforcement.”
“Even if I wanted to hire non-citizens how would I vet them? Our background checks are deeper than top secret clearance (aren’t you glad?) We go clear back from the day you were born,” he added. “How do I do that for someone from a foreign country?”
Senate Bill 5068 removes a phrase saying a law enforcement officer must be a “citizen of the United States or a lawful permanent resident” and instead says an officer may be a “person who is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law.”
