Posts mischaracterize Illinois law expanding police eligibility for non-citizens

"Just in: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a law that will allow illegal immigrants to become police officers and sheriff's deputies," says a July 29, 2023 post on Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X."

"In Illinois American citizens will be arrested by illegals."

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Screenshot of a post on Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X," taken August 9, 2023

Similar claims spread elsewhere on X and other social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Some prominent Republicans amplified them.

"To the Left, citizenship is meaningless. Illinois is now letting illegal aliens become police officers," says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running for president in 2024, in a July 30 post on X.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, signed House Bill 3751 into law on July 28 (archived here).

The legislation amends the Illinois Municipal Code to allow non-US citizens to work as police officers starting in January 2024. Several states, including California and Colorado, have passed similar measures as police departments struggle to recruit and retain officers.

However, a spokesperson for Pritzker told AFP the social media posts' interpretation of the law is "not true at all." The governor himself described the claims as "false information" in a July 31 statement (archived here).

The legislation amends sections of Illinois law that specifically prohibit non-US citizens from conducting police work. The bill stipulates that anyone who is "legally authorized under federal law to work in the United States" and is permitted to "obtain, carry, or purchase or otherwise possess a firearm" can work in local police departments.

Illinois Representative Barbara Hernandez, the bill's Democratic sponsor, confirmed to AFP that the measure "will only allow those who are federally approved to work in this country to be able to apply."

"The bill does not allow illegal immigrants to become officers, which is still against federal law due to them not being able to have a gun," she said.

Allison Brownell Tirres, an associate professor at DePaul University's College of Law, agreed.

"The social media posts blatantly mischaracterize the bill since those without federal work authorization do not qualify under its terms," she said.

Tirres said only some categories of non-citizens -- such as lawful permanent residents, green card holders and asylum seekers -- will no longer be barred from serving in law enforcement in the state.

The law would allow those registered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to become police officers. The policy, created during the Obama administration, protects some undocumented migrants brought to the country as children from deportation.

But Jacqueline Stevens, professor and founding faculty director of the Deportation Research Clinic at Northwestern University, said the DACA provision of the bill is negated by federal law (archived here).

The measure has the "requirement of having lawful status to own a firearm, that by definition people who have DACA cannot meet," she said.

Hernandez said that portion of the law is "symbolic," unless an applicant's "own individual department finds ways to allow them" to legally purchase and carry firearms.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation about US politics is available here.