No, new Illinois law will not let people in US illegally become cops, deputies | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: Illinois law allows immigrants living in US illegally to become cops

An Aug. 1 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, with a photo of Illinois' governor holding a pen.

“Just in: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a law that will allow illegal immigrants to become police officers and sheriff’s deputies,” reads text in the screenshot. "In Illinois American citizens will be arrested by illegals."

It was shared more than 200 times in 10 days.

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Our rating: False

The law says noncitizens applying for those jobs must be legally allowed to possess guns. People living in the U.S. illegally don't qualify because federal law bars them from owning guns, according to experts and lawmakers.

DACA recipients not eligible, but law ‘opens the door’

The legislation Pritzker signed into law July 28 will allow municipalities and sheriffs to hire some noncitizens as police officers or sheriff's deputies. It takes effect Jan. 1 and is similar to a California law signed in 2022 that also has been the subject of false claims.

The language of the 15-page Illinois law makes clear applicants must meet several criteria: They must be legally authorized to work in the U.S., and they must be allowed under federal law to obtain, carry or possess a gun.

People living in the country illegally may not legally obtain firearms, a federal appeals court ruled in 2012, and both experts and lawmakers say that makes them ineligible for law enforcement positions.

“Anyone who is saying that an illegal alien can become a police officer or sheriff’s deputy is either, one, misinformed, or two, giving you a baldfaced lie,” said state Rep. John Cabello, a Republican co-sponsor of the law and a Rockford police officer.

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Immigrants who would qualify include those holding green cards and, potentially, refugees or those granted asylum, according to Lauren Aronson, director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Illinois College of Law.

Those in the U.S. temporarily on student, tourist or employment visas would be ineligible, said state Rep. Barbara Hernandez, the Democrat who introduced the bill.

The law also would allow those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals process, or DACA, program to be eligible in the future if they meet the federal gun ownership requirements.

The policy protects some immigrants brought to the country illegally as young children from deportation. There are roughly 30,000 in Illinois, according to Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Presently, they are disqualified because they are not allowed to legally own guns and are not considered lawful permanent residents.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker praises the budget passed by the lawmakers during a news conference in his office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker praises the budget passed by the lawmakers during a news conference in his office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Tuesday, June 1, 2021.

Hernandez called their mention in the law “symbolic,” and Aronson said it would take “a federal law change or a shift in interpretation” for DACA participants to qualify for those police positions.

The measure is written in a way that “opens the door” for them to become officers, Jordan Abudayyeh, Pritzker’s deputy chief of staff, said in an email to USA TODAY.

“There are caveats to the DACA recipients becoming officers that would need to be overcome before many of them could join forces around the state,” Abudayyeh said.

USA TODAY reached out to both the user who posted the claim on X and the one who shared it on Facebook but did not receive responses.

The Associated Press also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim those in US illegally may become police in IL | Fact check