Washington Sheriff Won't let Non-Citizens To Work As Police Officers, Despite Political Pressure

A state county sheriff in Washington may be the only person left in the state with common sense.

He is rejecting a new state senate bill that would allow non-citizens to serve in public roles such as police officers, judges, and teachers, according to Breitbart.

Sheriff Keith Swank

Despite unanimous support in the legislature, Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank said he won’t comply. “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,” he told KIRO-TV.

Washington’s SB5068, which would allow non-citizens with federal work authorization—including DACA recipients—to serve as police, judges, and other public officials, passed the state senate unanimously in February.

All 30 Democrats backed it, but notably, so did all 19 Republicans.

Supporters argue there’s no difference between non-citizens in the military and in law enforcement, but Sheriff Keith Swank disagrees.

[ZH: Aaaand of course they locked down their accout]

SB5068: Allowing non-citizens to be police, prosecutors, judges, firefighters, teachers, etc… WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY LEGISLATORS [INCLUDING ALL REPUBLICANS]…

Maybe @WAGOP can take a crack at explaining this to REPUBLICAN CONSTITUENTS?

Roll Call
Public employ.… pic.twitter.com/jpjgdtlFz1

— Outrage PNW (@OutragePNW) March 27, 2025

“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,” he said.

Legislators claim the bill addresses Washington’s police shortage, but Swank isn’t buying it.

“The real problem is the reason it’s hard to hire people in Washington State… Cops don’t want to work here when they’re afraid to do something they might be put in prison for,” he said. The bill passed out of a House committee 6–3 and is headed for a full House vote.

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