Your Next Traffic Stop Might Be By An Illegal Immigrant

A measure allowing foreign nationals within the state to work as police officers was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) this week.

One of the 130 pieces of legislation Pritzker signed was the one that certain police organizations, like the Fraternal Order of Police, objected to. Foreign nationals are going to be permitted to work as police officers in the state right away.

Foreign nationals that “are legally permitted by federal law to obtain employment in the U.S.” as well as any foreign national “against whom immigration actions have been postponed by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) procedure” are both eligible to submit applications for employment as police officers in the state, according to the law, HB3751.

After the state House enacted the law earlier this year, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) denounced it.

The organization questioned the legislation’s meaning in a statement, asking, “What message would this piece of legislation deliver when it enables people who don’t have legal rights to become the enforcers of American laws? At a time when our police officers require all the public support they can muster, this is a possible crisis of trust in the law enforcement.”

Senator Chapin Rose of Illinois stated during the bill’s discussion that allowing non-citizens to make arrests of American people would constitute a “fundamental breach” of democracy.

In May, Rose declared, “It’s just a terrible idea. I don’t give a damn where this person is from. Australia shouldn’t have the authority to detain a citizen of the United States on American territory.

As the state and significant metro regions like Chicago have adopted policies that are mostly opposed by police, Illinois has been experiencing a lack of police personnel.

Pritzker also approved a number of contentious laws, one of which mandated that state agencies include “non-binary” or “gender non-conforming” categories in employment records.

This week’s legislation also targets crisis pregnancy centers. The new legislation enables the attorney general of Illinois to look into a claim of consumer fraud involving crisis pregnancy clinics that are allegedly engaging in dishonest business activities. The regulation primarily targets pro-life organizations that assert a link between abortion and infertility as well as breast cancer.

Mary Kate Zander, executive director of Right to Life, claimed that the legislation was “politically motivated” as well as “totally unsubstantiated.”

The Thomas More Society, a pro-religious liberty and pro-free speech legal firm, launched a lawsuit against the bill this week.

“This law is an obvious attempt to chill and suppress pro-life speech behind the pretense of ‘consumer protection,'” stated Peter Breen, executive vice president and also head of litigation for the Thomas More Society. “Pregnancy aid organizations offer actual alternatives and support to women and families in need of assistance, but rather than giving them the credit they deserve, pro-abortion legislators are fining and enjoining these organizations with $50,000 fines.”