Washington State close to allowing non-citizens, illegal DACA entrants, to patrol streets as police officers

OLYMPIA, WA- What is it about the West Coast of the United States? Is there something in the water of the Pacific Ocean? It sure seems that way. 

Following the lead of its progressive neighbor to the south, California, Washington State is poised to pass a bill that will make it lawful for non-citizens and illegal aliens who are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to work as police officers and press charges as deputy prosecutors, The Center Square reports. In other words, some individuals who themselves are criminals by way of entering the country illegally will be able to deprive actual citizens of their rights. Make it make sense. 

The move has angered some state lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Jenny Graham of Spokane. 

“We’re talking about a police officer’s ability to take away your rights under certain situations,’ Graham said before a vote last week in the House Community Safety Committee. “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.” 

Under federal immigration law, foreign nationals who obtain green cards are allowed to live as permanent residents, own property, and join the U.S. armed forces. Federal law does not address the ability to serve in law enforcement. In 2023, California joined Colorado as the only states to allow non-citizens to serve as police officers, including those who entered the country illegally. 

DACA was established in 2012 by Obama. However, in 2021, a federal court ruling found the program unlawful and blocked new applications. Current DACA recipients' protections and renewals were maintained, however. DACA recipients are protected from deportation and are allowed to obtain work permits. However, they do not have lawful immigration status and are not considered U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. 

The bill under consideration in Washington State, Senate Bill 5068, would allow foreigners authorized to work in the U.S. and DACA recipients to be hired as law enforcement officers, as well as with the Department of Fish & Wildlife, and non-elected positions such as deputy prosecutors. 

The bill passed the state Senate unanimously, and was voted out of the aforementioned House Community Safety Committee with edits, including protection of law enforcement agencies from employement discrimination claims if the applicant is rejected based on the agency determining hiring them would be “impractical,” a subjective sounding exception that seems ripe for interpretation. 

The bill also prohibits the Criminal Justice Training Commission from denying or revoking officer certifications of a person who cannot legally own or possess a firearm under federal law due to their immigration status. 

Committe Chair Roger Goodman, a Democrat (of course), told members that the “intent is to widen the pool of possible recruits to include not only those who are lawful permanent residents or green card holders and DACA recipients, but a wider universe of those who are legally authorized to be in the United States.” 

“It could be that some of these recruits who are lawfully allowed to be in the United States are nevertheless prohibited from carrying weapons under federal law,” he said. “So the amendment provides that that does not prevent them from being trained and certified and employed by [a] law enforcement agency.” 

Republican Brian Burnett, however, highlighted some areas of concern, saying he opposed the bill based on “concerns over the ability of these officers…to carry firearms off duty and or across state lines,” noting it “would not be legal for them to do so. We do not want to set these people up for failure or criminal charges. I think that we have a commitment to protect our citizens…but also the agencies that these people would be working for.” 

While Washington State plans to codify illegal entry into the United States and attempts to circumvent federal gun laws, it is also suing the sheriff in Adams County for “illegally collaborating with federal immigration officials and aiding the Trump administration’s efforts to enlist local officials for federal immigration work,” according to a release from Attorney General Nick Brown. 

The suit claims the Adams County Sheriff’s Office “has illegally held people in custody based only on their immigration status, helped federal agents question people in custody, and routinely given immigration officials confidential personal information of hundreds of Washingtonians. ‘All of this conduct expressly violates state law,’ the lawsuit says.” 

The release said that state law “does not interfere with the ability of federal officials to enforce immigration law” but rather “prohibits local law enforcement from providing local aid in that work.” 

“Late last year, Adams County was engaged in good faith settlement negotiations with our office’ Brown said. “But after the inauguration of Donald Trump, the county and its Sheriff’s Office suddenly hardened their stance, broke off settlement talks, and aligned themselves with an organization founded by a top Trump aide who is among the most virulent anti-immigrant voices in the administration.” 

Brown then engaged in some typical gaslighting about Trump advisor Stephen Miller, founder of America First Legal, which was retained by the sheriff’s office. He claimed Miller has “repeatedly denigrated immigrant families…repeated white nationalist talking points, and is responsible for shaping some of the Trump administration’s most draconian immigration policies, including the infamous family separation policy during the first Trump administration.” [emphasis added]

The so-called “family separation policy” has been debunked, with proponents saying the policy is no different than what happens when a citizen criminal is locked up in jail and his or her “family” is separated from them and not allowed to be housed in prison. 

Brown said the lawsuit is designed “to enforce the Keep Washington Working Act, which the Legislature passed with bipartisan support in 2019. The act is based on a simple premise that it is not the job of state law enforcement, county sheriffs, or local police departments in Washington to enforce federal immigration law.” 

State lawmakers used the same tired trope as to their reason for having local law enforcement refuse to help ICE, claiming that “victims of crimes could be reluctant to call police for help or to report crimes that they witnessed.” 

In a social media post, the Adams County Sheriff’s office called the lawsuit “a disappointing attempt to hinder our ability to uphold public safety.”

“The claim that we are engaging in ‘illegal federal immigration enforcement’ misrepresents the reality of law enforcement in Adams County,” the post said. “We do not enforce federal immigration law, but we also will not turn a blind eye to criminal activity–no matter who commits it.”