Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) signed a flurry of legislation on the evening of July 28, perhaps in the hopes that the late hour and date would stifle rigorous coverage of the new laws. One bill included in the mix was Illinois House Bill 3751, which will now allow noncitizens who are work-eligible under federal law to serve in law enforcement positions throughout the state.

The law will apply to various visa holders and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients, who also have been granted permission to work in the United States by the federal government. Applicants must also be legally able to obtain, carry, and use a firearm to apply for a position, according to the legislation.

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“An individual who is not a citizen but is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law is authorized to apply for the position of police officer, subject to all requirements and limitations, other than citizenship, to which other applicants are subject," the bill says.

Notably, federal law prohibits all noncitizens from holding law enforcement positions, and rightly so. Those entrusted to enforce the laws of the U.S. ought to have some foundational, legal tie to those laws.

That’s the key to self-government: We are bound to obey and enforce the laws that we, through our elected representatives, pass and to change those laws that no longer fit the country’s needs. Noncitizens are beholden to our laws just as much as anyone, but they cannot participate in this process and thus should have no say in carrying it out.

The problem is that Illinois is having a difficult time finding responsible citizens who are willing to serve. Thanks in large part to the state’s leftist policies, which have drastically reduced morale among the ranks, Illinois’s police departments are hemorrhaging officers and struggling to find new recruits. A 2022 survey of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police found that 60% of reporting agencies said they are understaffed. One department said all three of its sworn officers resigned in 2021. Resignations across the board increased by 65% in 2021 from the year before.

This is a crisis — but not one that will be solved by allowing noncitizens to arrest citizens. Pritzker’s time would be better spent trying to bolster the police departments his party has vilified.