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A Washington state county sheriff has turned his back on a bill unanimously passed by the state senate that would allow non-citizens to become judges, police officers, prosecutors, teachers, and to fill other public service roles.
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank says that he will never hire a non-citizen for his department despite the legislature’s nod of approval to the idea.
“I have a problem with non-citizens being cops and arresting our citizens in Pierce County. Therefore, we’re not going to hire non-citizens for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Swank said this week, according to KIRO-TV.
The bill, SB5068, was unanimously approved by the state senate in February. Unsurprisingly, all 30 Democrats voting for it, but in a shocking move all 19 senate Republicans also voted “yea.”
The bill would allow anyone “authorized to work in the United States under federal law” to serve in these key law enforcement and public service roles. That would include migrants with limited status and DACA recipients.
Supporters of the bill have said that they don’t see any difference between non-citizens serving in the military and serving as police officers, judges, or firefighters. But Swank does not agree with that idea. He said:
There’s a difference between law enforcement and the military. In law enforcement, we arrest people. We take away their constitutional rights. We lock them up in jail. We don’t use our military to do that. They’re defending America, hopefully, in foreign countries and foreign places, right, and here if we need to. So, there’s a big difference.
State legislators also proposed the bill as a way to solve the severe shortage of police officers in the extremely left-wing state, where police officers often feel both unwanted and targeted. But Sheriff Swank finds the argument absurd and says this bill won’t solve the officer shortage issue. Swank said:
The real problem is the reason it’s hard to hire people in Washington State. The state legislature has passed laws in Washington administrative codes that make it very difficult to be an officer here. Cops don’t want to work here when they’re afraid to do something they might be put in prison for it. That’s a big deal.
The bill is advancing through the legislature with little opposition. After so easily passing in the senate, it passed out of a House committee 6-3 last week and will soon be voted on by the full House.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, X at WTHuston, or Truth Social at @WarnerToddHuston.
