Wisconsin Legislators Push for Law Change to Allow DACA Illegal Aliens to Become Police Officers

TwoRepublican legislators, Representatives Dave Steffen (Green Bay) and John Macco(Ledgeview) are seeking to change a Wisconsin law to allow illegal aliens thathave been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to becomepolice officers. Under current state law, illegal aliens are ineligible tobecome police officers. 

Currently inWisconsin, deputy sheriffs or municipal officers are required to be U.S.citizens.  To carry out their duties, theofficers must take an oath of office which requires them to enforce the law andprotect the constitutional rights of all in their community. DACA illegalaliens cannot in good faith take this oath of office because they continuouslyreside in the United States in violation of the law. Granting DACA to illegal aliensdoes not change their status whatsoever:  It simply defers their removal and grants themwork documents.

Besides, itwould be inappropriate for DACA illegal aliens to take an oath of office whichrequires them to enforce the law.  Howcan individuals whose mere presence in this country violates federal law takean oath to uphold it in good faith?

The publicmust be confident that the officers who are sworn to protect them and upholdthe law are upstanding citizens in the community. If the public knows thattheir police department hires DACA illegal aliens, it may give them less faiththat the laws would be fairly enforced.

Furthermore,hiring DACA illegal aliens as police officers charged to serve and protect thecommunity sends the wrong message to legal immigrants.  Legal immigrants spend thousands of dollarsand wait many years to come to the United States.  Hiring DACA illegal aliens tells legalimmigrants that we do not care if our laws are violated.  It says that cheating the system and not abidingby the law will be rewarded.

RepresentativesSteffen and Macco justify their intent to change the law so that DACA illegalaliens can be hired as law enforcement officers claiming it will bring diversity to thepolice force. However, there are many laws on the books that already encouragediverse hiring practices.  A feel goodmeasure that undermines the public trust does nothing to encourage legalimmigrants who have become naturalized citizens to join the force.  With more than one million legal immigrantsentering the U.S. on any given year, there are better ways to bring diversityto law enforcement.