Police departments hiring immigrants as officers

*This is definitely needed, overdue and a step in the right direction.  I half-chuckled, half-smirked at the lead paragraph. If you look at law enforcement as a labor issue, once again immigrants are coming to fill the gaps. But it’s more than that, of course. This is a public safety issue, and a civil rights issue. VL

By Alan Gomez, USA Today

Law enforcement agencies struggling to fill their ranks or connect with their increasingly diverse populations are turning to immigrants to fill the gap.

Most agencies in the country require officers or deputies to be U.S. citizens, but some are allowing immigrants who are legally in the country to wear the badge. From Hawaii to Vermont, agencies are allowing green-card holders and legal immigrants with work permits to join their ranks.

At a time when 25,000 non-U.S. citizens are serving in the U.S. military, some feel it’s time for more police and sheriff departments to do the same. That’s why the Nashville Police Department is joining other departments to push the state legislature to change a law that bars non-citizens from becoming law enforcement officers.

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