Posts distort California bill allowing non-citizen police officers

CLAIM: A California bill would allow “illegal immigrants” to become police officers.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The bill would permit non-citizens who are authorized to work in the U.S. to become police officers. Federal law already bars employers from hiring immigrants who are not authorized to work in the country.

THE FACTS: The California bill, SB 960, was introduced in February and is still making its way through the legislative process.

The bill seeks to remove a provision in state law that requires police officers, or peace officers, to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is eligible for and has applied for citizenship.

But in recent days, social media users and blogs have distorted the facts about what it would do.

“CALIFORNIA DEM BILL WOULD LET ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BECOME POLICE OFFICERS,” reads a headline on redstateobserver.com.

One Twitter user asked, “Why did California Democrats just propose a bill to let illegal immigrants become police officers?”

Many posts linked to an online Fox News headline that originally said the bill would “let illegal immigrants become police officers,” before it was updated to refer to “non-citizens.” A Fox spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

But while the bill does not explicitly address which non-citizens would be eligible to become police officers, federal law already prohibits employers from hiring immigrants who are not authorized to work in the U.S. The state legislation wouldn’t change that.

It would likely apply to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children to stay in the country and work, according to experts.

“These restrictions would govern who could be employed as a police officer in California if the bill passes. Only noncitizens with work authorization could be so employed, which would include noncitizens who are designated as asylees, refugees, or DACA recipients, with current work authorization,” Leti Volpp, a professor of law at University of California, Berkeley, told The Associated Press in an email.

The California bill was sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner.

During a March 22 California Senate Public Safety Committee hearing, Skinner said the bill “does not allow for any person who is undocumented” to become a police officer.

“You must be a person who is legally authorized to work, so you have that legal paperwork, and then, in California, if this bill passes, you would be able to be a sworn officer,” she said.

A March analysis of the bill by the public safety committee did include a statement from Skinner’s office with several references to “undocumented” immigrants in relation to the bill.

Robert Gammon, a spokesperson for Skinner, who also serves on the committee, acknowledged those references to the AP and said they were incorrect and due to a “staff error.” A subsequent Senate Floor analysis, published Friday, changed those references to “non-citizen residents” and “work authorized non-citizens.”

The March analysis also did explain that the “bill allows non-citizens with valid work authorization to obtain employment as peace officers in California.”

“Among the categories of work-authorized non-citizens that would likely be eligible are permanent workers (immigrant visa based on employment), asylees and refugees, and individuals who are protected under the Program of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),” it reads.

The bill is still being debated in the state Senate.

___

This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.