Armed and unauthorized: The illegal immigrant officers hiding in plain sight

TLDR:

• Republican lawmakers are introducing the Stop Illegal Alien Cops Act to ban illegal immigrants from carrying government-issued firearms as police officers
• A quirk in a 1968 federal gun law has allowed some police departments to hire and arm illegal immigrants, including DACA recipients
• In Illinois, Maine and Minnesota, federal authorities have arrested or identified illegal immigrant officers and corrections workers
• Some states, including California and Illinois, have actively expanded policies allowing illegal immigrants to become armed officers

Illegal immigrants have been sworn in as armed police and corrections officers across the country — and until now, it’s been perfectly legal.

A quirk in federal gun law allows illegal immigrants to carry firearms issued by a government agency, even though they’re otherwise banned from possessing weapons. Some cash-strapped departments, struggling to fill ranks amid anti-police sentiment, quietly took advantage.

Now Republicans want to shut it down.

Federal authorities have already moved against several officers. In Hanover Park, Ill., Radule Bojovic was sworn in as a police officer last summer despite entering the U.S. on a temporary visa in 2015 and never leaving. The department said he had valid work authorization and passed a background check.

In Minnesota, corrections officer Morris Brown has been living in the country illegally since his visa was revoked in 2015 — and had falsely claimed American citizenship.

“The very idea that you can come to the United States, be here without status, and yet enforce the laws of the United States is ludicrous,” said Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina and Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois are leading the Stop Illegal Alien Cops Act, which would close the loophole.

Read more:

• Republicans unveil bill to block illegal immigrants from becoming armed police