Thread: Illinois law allowing non-citizen police may violate 14th Amendment.

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See: Pritzker defends Illinois bill that allows non-citizens to become police officers

From the article:

"HB 3751 was passed by both chambers of the General Assembly earlier this year. The bill’s language says that “individuals who are not citizens, but are legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law” will be allowed to apply for jobs with police departments beginning on Jan. 1, 2024."

Now, keep in mind a fundamental principle of our nation's founding recognizes and distinguishes citizens from non-citizens, as applied to a number of privileges, e.g., Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the United States Constitution states:


"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President . . . "

Our federal Constitution also commands that:

"No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen." Article 1, Section 2, Clause 2

And, Article 1, Section 3, Clause 3. states:

"No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen".

And even the Constitution of the State of Illinois declares: "To be eligible to hold the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller or Treasurer, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 25 years old, and a resident of this State for the three years preceding his election."

In fact, there is no state constitution which specifically declares eligibility for being governor does not require citizenship. Four or five states (as I recall) are silent on this eligibility question. But all the rest, either directly or indirectly, require citizenship to be a governor.

We also find that the privilege of voting is reserved to citizens, and the Fourteenth Amendment makes a distinction between “citizens” and “person” and forbids any state to enforce any law which abridges the “privileges and immunities” of citizens.


Seems to me Illinois law allowing non-citizens to enjoy the privilege of being a police officer with the power to police and arrest citizens of Illinois, may very well violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s text which forbids any state to enforce any law which abridges the “privileges and immunities” of citizens.

By extending the “privilege” of citizens of Illinois to be police officers to non-citizens, the case can be made that in so doing, the privilege of Illinois’ citizens to be police officers is being diluted, and thus being abridged.
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JWK

“If aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of citizens at the will of a single state, the Union might itself be endangered by an influx of foreigners, hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges." - ___ Justice Story
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Democrats violate our laws every day!

They all need to be prosecuted and put in prison.

Illegal aliens should not have the "privilege" of jobs, schools, housing, driver's licenses or healthcare either.

Originally Posted by Beezer

Democrats violate our laws every day!

They all need to be prosecuted and put in prison.

Illegal aliens should not have the "privilege" of jobs, schools, housing, driver's licenses or healthcare either.

Speaking about the Democrat Party Leadership violating our laws every day, the Democrat Party Leadership has recently made Section 8 housing vouchers available to illegal entrant foreign nationals, while American citizens in our nations' inner cities are going homeless and are living on the streets.

American citizens are being turned into second-class residents in their own homeland, while illegal entrant foreign nationals are now benefiting from privileges intended to be for American citizens only.

JWK

There is no surer way to weaken, subdue and bring to its knees a prosperous and freedom loving country than by flooding it with deadly drugs, an inflated currency and the poverty stricken, poorly educated, low skilled, diseased, disabled, and criminal populations of other countries.

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Of course, our domestic enemies don't think hiring non-citizen police violates the 14th Amendment's Privilege Clause. Perhaps that is because I am more creative than the ACLU who has been using the Fourteenth Amendment in a perverted fashion to subjugate our founding principles and destroy the United States from within.

But the Fourteenth Amendment declares “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”

And, the fact is, being hired by government as a police officer is a "privileged" type of employment, and is confirmed in an Executive Order which dealt with “Security requirements for Government employment” and begins as follows:

"WHEREAS the interests of the national security require that all persons privileged to be employed in the departments and agencies of the Government, shall be reliable, trustworthy, of good conduct and character, and of complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States; and

WHEREAS the American tradition that all persons should receive fair, impartial, and equitable treatment at the hands of the Government requires that all persons seeking the privilege of employment or privileged to be employed in the departments and agencies of the Government be adjudged by mutually consistent and no less than minimum standards and procedures among the departments and agencies governing the employment and retention in employment of persons in the Federal service . . . "

And our Fourteenth Amendment forbids State action which abridges the “privileges” of its citizens.

Consequently, the State of Illinois, by extending the “privilege” of being employed as a police officer to non-citizens, an obvious abridgement of the privilege takes place in that for every non-citizen hired by the State of Illinois as a police officer, there is one less employment opportunity for the citizens of Illinois to be hired as a police officer, thereby creating an abridgment of this privilege for Illinois’ citizens.

So, let the ACLU suck on that!

JWK

“If aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of citizens at the will of a single state, the Union might itself be endangered by an influx of foreigners, hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges." - ___ Justice Story

Illegal aliens and non-citizens should not be allowed to work in any government office. The Governors that allow it should be sued and those government offices defunded and/or shut down until they are fired and deported!

Originally Posted by Beezer

Illegal aliens and non-citizens should not be allowed to work in any government office. The Governors that allow it should be sued and those government offices defunded and/or shut down until they are fired and deported!

It is sickening how the Democrat Party Leadership in a number of States put the interests of foreign nationals above the interests of American citizens, and it is especially sickening in view of the fact those getting the red- carpet treatment are illegal entrant foreign nationals who have invaded our country.

This action, by the Democrat Party Leadership, fits the very definition of treason.


JWK

“If aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of citizens at the will of a single state, the Union might itself be endangered by an influx of foreigners, hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges." - Joseph Story

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Here is an excellent article as to why hiring non-citizens as police officers is a very, very bad idea.

See:

We should require citizenship before giving someone a badge and gun




Part of the article reads as follows:

"There is no denying the policy changes in Illinois that continue putting the rights of criminals above the safety of our families and the officers sworn to protect them has caused law enforcement departments to struggle with recruiting qualified police officers. However, just as we require U.S. citizenship to be a member of the Illinois General Assembly, we should require someone to be a U.S. citizen before putting a badge and gun in their hand.

Having to obtain citizenship before being vested with the immense responsibility of law enforcement authority is sound public policy that the state should not turn away from".

JWK


“If aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of citizens at the will of a single state, the Union might itself be endangered by an influx of foreigners, hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges." ___ Justice Story

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With regard to Illinois getting set to allow non-citizens to be police, arming them and allowing them to police American citizens, a question arises as to whether or not doing so violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s “privilege” clause ___ “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”

The question is, does the hiring of police under state authority fall within the category of a “privileged” occupation which may not be abridged by the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment?

My thinking, which is “yes”, is based on what the United States Supreme Court ruled in Foley v Connelie, 435 U.S. 291 (1978


Chief Justice Burger, who delivered the majority opinion in Foley v Connelie, substantiates beyond any reasonable question why “. . . citizenship may be a relevant qualification . . . ,‘ in fulfilling "important nonelective executive, legislative, and judicial positions . . . " in our democratic system.


As one can see, Justice Burger goes on to point out:


“This is not because our society seeks to reserve the better jobs to its members. Rather, it is because this country entrusts many of its most important policy responsibilities to these officers, the discretionary exercise of which can often more immediately affect the lives of citizens than even the ballot of a voter or the choice of a legislator. In sum, then, it represents the choice, and right, of the people to be governed by their citizen peers.”


Although the question of being hired by the state as a police officer falls within the category of a privileged occupation, it was not a primary issue in Foley. But Burger’s fierce defense for New York excluding foreign nationals from being hired as police officers is a good indication if the question had been raised and litigated, he would have concluded such employment by the State does fall within a State’s created privileged occupations. As Justice Burger wrote:


“Clearly the exercise of police authority calls for a very high degree of judgment and discretion, the abuse or misuse of which can have serious impact on individuals. 7 The office of a policeman is in no sense one of “the common occupations of the community” that the then Mr. Justice Hughes referred to in Truax v. Raich, 239 U.S. 33, 41 (1915). A policeman vested with the plenary discretionary powers we have described is not to be equated with a private person engaged in routine public employment or other “common occupations of the community” who exercises no broad power over people generally. [435 U.S. 291, 299] Indeed, the rationale for the qualified immunity historically granted to the police rests on the difficult and delicate judgments these officers must often make.”


The only remaining question is, does extending that privileged type of state employment to non-citizens, abridge a federally protected privilege of Citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment (“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”) who are actively pursuing that type of employment?


It seems to be a self-evident fact that, for every non-citizen hired by the State of Illinois as a police officer, there is one less employment opportunity for the citizens of Illinois to be hired as a police officer, thereby creating an obvious Fourteenth Amendment abridgment of a state created privileged occupation for Illinois’ citizens.


So, when will those who represent Illinois citizen police, grow a spine and protect the interests of American citizens who are the only legitimate applicants who may seek this state created privileged occupation?


JWK


“There is no greater privilege than serving the people of New York City, and that privilege comes with a responsibility to keep yourself and your community safe," Mayor Bill de Blasio LINK