By The American Tribune | Created at 2025-04-01 10:10:59 | Updated at 2025-04-02 17:28:46
1 day ago
While speaking to local media, Keith Swank, the Pierce County Sheriff, blasted a Washington State bill that would allow legal migrants to serve as police officers within the predominantly blue state. The bill was designed to remove citizenship requirements for municipal positions, in an attempt to address staffing shortages and promote inclusivity.
For context, the sheriff spoke about State Senate Bill 5068 (SB 5068), which passed the Senate unanimously on February 5, 2025. The bill, which was supported by Republicans as well as Democrats, allowed non-citizens legally authorized to work in the U.S. to hold public sector roles such as police officers, prosecutors, judges, firefighters, and teachers.
Such was shown when Keith Swank, the Pierce County Sheriff, blasted the bill and refused to cooperate with the proposal. He said, “I have a problem with non-citizens being cops and arresting our citizens in Pierce County. Therefore, we’re not going to hire non-citizens for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.”
Building on that point, Swank explained the major security concerns with hiring non-citizens. The sheriff added, “We check everything out from childhood, the whole way to the present day, whenever you apply to be here. If you’re from a foreign country, we don’t have that ability to check anything out about you.”
Commenting on the bill, the sheriff explained why this proposed law would be a disaster for his state. Swank said, “There’s a difference between law enforcement and the military. In law enforcement, we arrest people. We take away their constitutional rights. We lock them up in jail. We don’t use our military to do that. They’re defending America, hopefully, in foreign countries and foreign places, right, and here if we need to. So, there’s a big difference.”
Concluding his remarks, he offered another solution for Washington’s staffing woes. He said, “The real problem is the reason it’s hard to hire people in Washington State. The state legislature has passed laws in Washington administrative codes that make it very difficult to be an officer here. Cops don’t want to work here when they’re afraid to do something they might be put in prison for it. That’s a big deal.”
However, some Democrats, such as Senator John Lovick, who sponsored the bill, defended the proposal. The senator said, “SB 5068 is a good bill, allowing those legally authorized to work in the country, such as DACA recipients, the opportunity to serve and protect their communities. This will help ease Washington’s peace officer shortage and get officers into the communities that need them.”
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Continuing his argument, Lovick cited the support for this bill. He added, “That is why the Washington State Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and every member of the Washington State Senate support this legislation.”
Despite the support from lawmakers, conservatives were enraged by the bill and the idea of being policed by foreigners. When a transcript of the bill was posted online, users expressed their dissatisfaction. One of the comments read, “Given the history of this states intent toward foreign born & DEI this is a disaster in the making. We already see the outcome of this in the DC District Trial Court. Reports say over 50 percent of judges in DC circuit are foreign born!”
Watch Tom Homan talk about clashes between illegal immigrants and our police officers:
