The city of Seattle is seeking to address its police department’s staffing shortages by allowing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to apply for positions.
“The Seattle Police Department is now accepting applications from DACA recipients,” states a recent post on the department’s LinkedIn page.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, commonly known as “Dreamers,” are individuals who entered the U.S. illegally as minors and have since received protection under the DACA policy. This Obama-era program allows eligible migrants to defer deportation and gain work authorization in the United States.
To qualify under the DACA program, recipients must have arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday and lack legal authorization to live in the country.
Although DACA recipients are authorized to work in the U.S., they have generally been unable to secure law enforcement jobs. Previously, Seattle’s police force required applicants to be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. DACA recipients also faced restrictions on their ability to carry firearms, an essential requirement for law enforcement officers.
However, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) disputed this restriction during a similar initiative by Los Angeles authorities last year. In a February letter, the U.S. Justice Department clarified that “ATF’s position” is that “DACA recipients may also possess firearms and ammunition seized as evidence or for forfeiture if the possession is in connection with their official duties.”
The path for DACA recipients to join the Seattle Police Department was further cleared when the Washington legislature passed SB 6157 earlier this year. This law, signed by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in March, reformed state laws to allow DACA recipients to apply for civil service positions and went into effect last week.
This development comes as welcome news for the department, which, according to an April KUOW report, lost 725 officers over the past five years, leaving just 913 trained officers—the lowest staffing level since the 1990s.
To reflect the new legislation, the department updated its qualification guidelines last week. The job qualifications page now states: “An applicant must hold United States citizenship, OR have legal permanent residency in the U.S., OR be a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient.”
The Seattle Police Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
