SACRAMENTO – A California Democrat has proposed a new state bill that will allow non-citizens to become police officers.
Democrat Sen. Nancy Skinner proposed SB 960. If passed, it would remove the provision that an individual must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States in order to become a police officer.
The poorly crafted legislation makes no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants, FOX Los Angeles reported.
The bill was previously voted on at the end of March, with four ayes and one no. Democratic Sens. Steven Bradford, Sydney Kamlager and Scott Wiener, along with Skinner, all voted in favor of the bill. Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, also a Democrat, voted no.
The bill received its second reading on Tuesday and is now onto its third reading.
The bill only allows for legal immigrants to become police officers, a source familiar with the bill told Fox News Digital. However, the language in the bill itself does not specify that illegal immigrants are barred from doing so. The term “illegal immigrant” was unnecessary to include as other sections of federal law already barred illegal immigrants from becoming officers, the source continued.
“This bill only allows those who are living here legally and have the legal ability to work here — through a visa, a green card — to become peace officers. I just want to be clear on that,” said Sen. Skinner at a March 22 Senate Public Safety Committee.
Retired California police lieutenant Jim McNeff commented on the proposal.
“PORAC (Peace Officer’s Research Association of California) has a strong lobby in Sacramento, so I hope they contest this deeply flawed legislation,” McNeff said. “Good order in the state has been radically compromised by politicians who are as corrupt as people that are involved in organized crime. So, who really knows. A lot of crazy things have happened in California that seemed unfathomable many years ago. This is one of several reasons why I left the state upon retirement.”
McNeff, who is also the managing editor at Law Officer concluded, “When the principles of society are built on sinking sand, they will get sucked into the tide of tumult and erode. SB 960 is fallacious and if this domino falls it will do nothing but degrade the institution of law enforcement in California.”
